A Different Life
by Lady Lashana
Summary: AU Lily and James Potter have a daughter instead of a son. The Dursleys don't want the baby, so dump her on the steps of an apartment building. The tenants decide what to do with her and one of them, a young witch, adopts the Girl-Who-Lived.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Lily and James Potter had a daughter instead of a son. When they died, Dumbledore left the baby, Bethany Lily, at the Dursleys. However, Vernon did not want a freak in his home and Petunia didn't really want to have anything to do with her sister's child. So the Dursleys decided to let someone else deal with the convience. Bethany was left on the steps of an aprtment bulding. In the morning, the residents discovered the baby and wondered what to do. One of the tenants happened to be a single witch named Natalia Harper and recognized Bethany. She decided to adopt the child and Bethany grew up as Bethany Lily Potter-Harper. Eventually Beth attends Hogwarts with her best friend and makes four other friends.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter world. The fantastic author J. K. Rowling does.

"Ahhhhh!" shrieked Petunia Evans Dursley, dropping the milk bottle. Her husband, Vernon, heard her scream and rushed over.

"What's the matter, Petunia dear?" he asked. Then he looked down and what had caused his wife to scream.

Petunia bent down and picked up the letter resting on the bundled up toddler. Fortunately, her scream had not caused the child to wake up. Her lips pursed as she read the letter. When she was done, she snapped, "My freak sister and her husband got themselves killed by an evil person in their world that wanted to take over. This letter is from the headmaster of the freak school they attended. It tells of their death and explains that I have to take in their child, our niece."

Vernon turned purple. "I will not have a freak under our roof!" he spat. "This brat is not our niece!"

"Well, what are we going to do with her, Vernon?" asked Petunia. "I don't want to have anything to do with that world, but we can't leave this child on our doorstep forever."

"Don't worry, Petunia," responded Vernon. "I'll dump it somewhere and let someone else deal with this." He picked up the bundle that was his niece and got into his car. He drove off with the baby. After half an hour, he stopped in front of an apartment building in another town. As it was still rather early, nobody noticed as he left the baby on the doorstep and drove away.

Half an hour later, one of the tenants was about to take her son to school. When the door opened, the six-year old boy saw the bundle and exclaimed, "Mum, a baby's on the step!"

His mother looked down and gasped. "What in heaven's name! Why is there a baby on the doorstep?" She picked up the child and went inside. Another tenant stepped out the elevator with her daughter. She gasped when she saw the baby and listened as her neighbor explained things.

"I'll take charge of this baby for now, Maud," she said. "Could you take Amy with your son Carl to school? We'll have a tenant meeting this evening and discuss what to do with the child."

"All right, Susan," said Maud Jenkins. She took Amy Clark's hand and took Amy and Carl to school. Susan Clark rocked the little girl, who had finally woken up, and took her to the apartment on the fourth floor. The Grangers on the third floor had a toddler of their own and were willing to donate some baby food, diapers, and a couple of toys for this mysterious baby.

In the evening, most of the adult tenants got together for a meeting. Two of the parents remained to look after the children. "A girl of about one-year old was left on the doorstep of our building today," said Mrs. Clark. "Nobody has any idea as to whom the child is, or where she came from. Something has to be done. Either one of us adopts the girl, or we take her to an orphanage."

Natalia Harper, a young woman of twenty-one who had moved into the building eight months ago, got up and look a good luck at the baby. Her eyes widened when she saw the lightning-bolt scar on the baby's forehead. The girl was obviously Bethany Potter, the daughter of Lily and James Potter and the Girl-Who-Lived, having defeated Voldemort two days previous.

She slowly turned and said, "I think I know who this baby is." The other tenants looked at her and she said, "I believe the girl is Bethany Potter. Her parents went to school with me, and Bethany has the same features as her mother and her father's black hair. I also heard that they died a couple of days ago."

"Then how did Bethany end up here?" asked Mr. Wilson.

"Lily Potter, that's Bethany's mother, told me once that she had a sister, but they were estranged. Apparently the sister was jealous that Lily got into a prestigious boarding school. Since the sister is Bethany's closest relative, I assume the child was left her aunt. But the aunt apparently didn't want her, so I guess she left her niece here."

Several eyebrows were raised and Mrs. (Dr.) Granger exclaimed, "How can anyone do something like that? Just because you don't like your sister doesn't mean you can decide to dump your baby niece someplace because you don't want to keep her."

"Well, we have to do right by this little girl," said Mr. Edmunson. "I really don't want to have her go to an orphanage. It'd feel too much like what her aunt did."

"I'll adopt her," said Natalia. "I've been thinking about adopting lately, and I knew Bethany's parents, so I can tell her about them when she's older."

After a short discussion, it was agreed by everyone that Natalia Harper would adopt Bethany. The child was reported to the authorities and the process for adoption began. After three months, Natalia Harper was the adopted mother of Bethany Lily Potter-Harper. As Natalia had a job in the Ministry of Magic, four of the other women in the building volunteered to take turns baby-sitting Bethany during the day. Natalia paid them, of course, but the four women insisted on being only paid half of what a normal baby-sitter would be paid. A temporary block was placed on Beth so that she wouldn't do accidental magic and arouse the suspicions of her baby-sitters. It would be removed once she was old enough to attend school.

So Beth Potter-Harper grew up with a very happy childhood. She had a loving adopted mother and the other tenants liked her and were mostly kind to her. A couple of the older kids occasionally teased her, but otherwise things were pleasant. By the age of four, Beth had become best friends with Hermione Granger, who was closest in age to her of all the children that lived in the building, other than Matt Wilson, who was six months younger than her. The year after, when Beth started kindergarten, the Grangers moved to a house a few streets over, but this didn't affect the friendship any. Beth and Hermione were in the same primary school and they visited each other after school.

Author's Note: The Grangers were only living in the apartment building when Bethany showed up because their dental practice wasn't that big yet and they couldn't afford a house. By the time Hermione and Beth started school, the Grangers could afford a house, and so they moved. I wasn't going to have them remain in the building forever because it doesn't make sense for dentists to live in apartments unless they're single and don't want a house.


	2. Chapter 2

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office, a worried frown on his face. Arabella Figg had contacted him that morning, reporting that Bethany Potter did not seem to be at the Dursleys. Dudley Dursley had been seen going to first grade, but there was no sign of his cousin. Something was wrong. If Bethany wasn't at her relatives, then she was missing and action needed to be taken. After some thought, he summoned Minerva McGonagall and asked her to check if Bethany was at the Dursleys.

Miles away, Beth and Hermione were racing to the Granger home on their bicycles. Beth was winning at the moment. However, when they turned the corner, Hermione yelled, "Your chain is falling off, Beth!"

Beth skidded to a stop and hopped off her bike to check. As she did so, Hermione pedaled past her and took the lead. Beth's widened when she saw that the chain wasn't falling off and realized she'd been tricked. She got back on her bike and tried to catch up, but Hermione won the race. "That's not fair, Hermione Jean Granger!" shouted Beth.

Hermione just smirked. "There's nothing in the rules that says I can't trick you in order to win the race, Beth."

"Fine, you win, Mia," said Beth, reverting to the nickname for Hermione (because she couldn't pronounce the full name at the age of three) to show she was no longer annoyed. "But I'm getting you back at our next race."

"Good luck," grinned Hermione. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Visiting Uncle Gary and his family," responded Beth. "I don't really want to, 'cause all Evanna wants to do is play tea party with her dolls. And I'm stuck playing with her 'cause she's only a year younger than me. Daniel and Julie are too old and Mike's too little."

At the Ministry of Magic in London, Natalia Harper was sorting through papers from old cases. She stopped when she came to one labeled 'Sirius Black'. Back in Hogwarts, she had dated Sirius briefly in her fifth year. After three months, though, they had mutually decided to break up, because they felt that they didn't have all that much in common. However, they had remained friends. After graduation, they'd lost touch with each other and the next thing Natalia had heard about Sirius was that he had been arrested for betraying the Potters to Voldemort and killing his friend Peter Pettigrew plus twelve Muggles. She wasn't sure what to believe, because Sirius had never struck her as the kind of person to betray his friends or turn to the Dark Arts like most of his family. However, all evidence had pointed as him being guilty, so she had dismissed it from her mind.

Natalia now read through the file and gasped when she discovered that Sirius Black had never received a trial. In the Muggle world, all arrested people got a trial, so that didn't sit well with her. Just because the war against Voldemort ended and all evidence showed Sirius to be guilty was no excuse. She contacted her Head of Department, Amelia Bones, and requested a trial for Sirius Black. Amelia Bones, who was a very fair person, agreed with her, and promised to do her best to get a trial.

The next day, Saturday, Natalia took Beth to visit her brother and his family. The drive took an hour. Evanna came running out the door when Beth got out of the car. "Hi, Beth! Grandma gave me a new doll! Let's have tea."

Beth sighed. She didn't mind dolls, and had several at home, but she hated having tea parties with them so often. Whenever she played with dolls with Hermione, they normally played school or doctor office or something similar.

To her surprise, ten-year old Julie came to the rescue. "I'm sorry, Evanna, but Beth can't have a tea party with you right now. I'm sorting through some of my old books and I want Beth to pick the ones she likes to take with her."

Evanna pouted. "Rats! Now I have to have a tea party with Mike. He's only a baby."

"Don't call your brother that," repriminded her father. He then bent down and hugged Beth. "And how's my favorite niece?"

"I'm your only niece, Uncle Gary," giggled Beth, returning the hug and kissing her uncle on the cheek.

Julie then took Beth upstairs, where there was a cardboard box filled with books. Beth instantly began looking through the box. She had insisted on having her mother teach her to read when she was three, and had fallen in love with reading books not long after. By the time she had started kindergarten, she could already read at a second-grade level. That was one of the reasons that Hermione was her best friend, because Hermione also loved to read as well.

After several minutes, Beth annouced, "I want all the books, Julie."

"Sure," replied Julie, shrugging. "I don't read them anymore, and Evanna's not going to read them for a few more years, so you might as well get some use out of them. And Dan doesn't want them because the main characters are mostly girls."

"Thanks, Julie," said Beth, grinning.

At Hogwarts that afternoon, Professor McGonagall was reporting to Dumbledore. "I went to the Dursley home like you asked, Albus. Bethany Potter is not there. Petunia Dursley answered the door and was not happy to see me when I explained who I was. She and her husband tried to throw me out and I had to resort to threatening them with magic before they desisted. Both informed me that Bethany was not there, and their son Dudley told me that he was the only child. I did the spell that reveals human presence and it showed only the Dursleys. After some pressure, Vernon finally admitted that Bethany had been left on their doorstep, but they didn't keep her. He didn't want, in his words, 'a freak living under their roof', and Petunia didn't want anything to do with the wizarding world or her sister's child."

"So what did they do with Bethany?" asked Dumbledore, alarmed. It appeared he had a mistake with Bethany.

"That Vernon Dursley left Bethany on the steps of an apartment building in another town," answered McGonagall. "He doesn't know the address, but he was able to tell me the town."

After being told the town, Dumbledore got up and paced his room. "How could I have made such a mistake? I should have listened to you when you protested leaving Bethany with her aunt and uncle. Instead, I insisted on leaving her there, but her relatives didn't want her and left her for someone else to deal with. The poor child is probably in an orphanage somewhere."

"If you would check the Hogwarts register, you could find out where Bethany is, Albus," pointed out McGonagall.

"Thank you for reminding me, Minerva," said Dumbledore. The two left the office and went to check the register. They flipped to the section listing all magical children born from September 2nd, 1979 to September 1st, 1980, and scanned the "P's".

McGonagall gasped, "There's Bethany's name, but it's different! Instead of 'Potter', she's now Bethany Lily Potter-Harper! And she's still living in the town the Dursleys left her in. And since the rest of the address is for an apartment building, I would guess that one of the tenants in the building decided to adopt her."

Dumbledore sighed. "Well, at least Bethany seems to be safe. I will have to go to the building tomorrow and check on things, however." He frowned and continued, "The person who adopted Bethany may be a witch or wizard. Back when I was Transfiguration teacher, there was a Muggleborn student named Adam Harper. And around twenty years later, his son, Gareth Harper, attended Hogwarts, followed by his daughter, Natalia, five years later. So either one could have adopted Bethany."

An hour later, Beth and her mother were driving home. "No reading in the car, honey," said Natalia. "It's bad for your eyes."

"But it's boring, just having to sit here for an hour!" protested Bethany. "I want to read." She turned to reach for the box in the back seat.

"Bethany, turn around," said Natalia, not taking her eyes from the road.

Beth pouted, but did as her mother said and turned around. "I bet my real mother would let me read."

"She wouldn't," responded Natalia. "I knew Lily Potter and she wouldn't let you read in the car."

"Fine, but I still want to read." Suddenly, a book floated out of the box and towards Beth, who caught it in her hands. "Mum, how did the book end up in my hand?"

Natalia quickly pulled to the side of the road and stopped. "You didn't turn around and grab the book from the box, Beth?"

"I didn't, Mum," answered Beth. "It just floated towards me, like magic."

Natalia started the car again and resumed driving. As she drove, she explained about magic and the wizarding world. Finally, she told Beth not to tell anyone about it, because many people weren't magical and they weren't supposed to know.

"But what about Hermione?" asked Beth. "She's my best friend and I tell her everything. And yesterday, she acc'dent'ly broke her mum's favorite vase, but then the pieces flew up and stuck together. It stopped being broken."

Natalia turned to stare at Beth before remembering that she was still driving. She quickly focused back on the road and said, "What happened exactly, Beth?"

"Well, Mia tripped and acc'dent'ly hit the table with the vase. It fell and broke into lots of pieces. She started crying, saying that it was her Mum's favorite vase and that she'd be mad it got broken. Mia looked at the pieces and added, 'And it can't be fixed 'cept with magic and magic's not real!' Then the pieces flew up and the vase was fixed."

"Beth, has anything else like magic happened around Hermione?"

Beth nodded. "Last week, Mia and I were reading a book. Mia touched a picture in it and said she wished it could move. Then the picture did move, but not very long. Only 'bout a minute."

"Then that means Hermione can be told about magic, since it turns out she's a witch as well," said Natalia.

"She is?" asked Beth. "Then does that mean she'll go to Hogwarts with me?"

"Yes, dear," said Natalia. "We'll visit the Grangers tomorrow after church and explain magic and the wizarding world to them."

"Okay," said Beth. "Mum, can you tell me 'bout my real mum and dad? You said that an evil person killed them and that's why you 'dopted me. Was the evil person a wizard?"

"Yes," replied Natalia. She proceeded to explain about Voldemort, but she didn't go into too much detail because while Beth was mature for a six-year old, she was still a child and didn't need to know everything.

The next day, Dumbledore stopped at the apartment building. He had to knock on several doors before someone answered, because most of the tenants were church-goers. The man who opened the door replied to the question, "Yes, a Miss Natalia Harper lives in this building, with her adopted daughter, Bethany. They live in Apartment 4B, but they're at church right now."

"Thank you, sir," answered Dumbledore. "I will call on them later." Mr. Slate nodded and shut the door, wondering about the other man. He had a long white beard and appeared to be in his seventies, with an odd fashion sense. Most eldery men did not wear flamboyant plum-colored suits. However, Mr. Slate forgot all about the strange man when he accidentally knocked over his cup of tea and had to clean up the resultant spill.

After church, the Grangers invited the Harpers over for lunch. After the meal, Natalia explained about the wizarding world and from what Beth had told her, it appeared that Hermione was a witch. Though the Grangers attended church, they weren't really all that religious, so they didn't have any problems with Hermione being a witch once they'd gotten over the surprise. Natalia then explained about Hogwarts and how Beth and Hermione would receive acceptance letters to the school when they were eleven. The Drs. Grangers weren't too sure about sending their daughter to a boarding school to learn magic, but they had five years to get used to the idea, and they admitted that it was best for Hermione to be properly trained.

Finally all three Grangers promised not to tell anyone else about the wizarding world. Hermione, in particular, was thrilled to find out the strange things she had done were magic and chatted about it excitedly with Beth.

Finally Beth and Natalia went home. Beth was about to change out of her church dress when there was a knock on the door. Natalia went to answer. She paused when she looked through the peephole and saw Dumbledore standing there, dressed in a flamboyantly cut plum suit. There was a second knock and Natalia decided she might as well answer.

"Good afternoon, Professor Dumbledore," she said, one eyebrow raised. "And what are you doing here? I wasn't aware that you know where all your former students lived."

"Professor Dumbledore?" asked Beth behind her. "You mean the Headmaster of Hogwarts that you told me 'bout yesterday?"

"Yes, dear," said Natalia, turning around and smiling. "He's come to visit us."

Beth remembered her manners and curtseyed, saying, "Hello, Professor Dumbledore. I'm Beth. Please come in and sit down."

"Hello, Beth," replied Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "You're a very polite young lady."

"Thank you, Professor. Mum brought me up to be polite, and she says my real mum would have wanted me to be polite too."

Dumbledore raised a brow. He had not expected that Bethany to know that she was adopted. In the living room, he sat down and offered Beth a lemon drop. After asking her mum for permission, she accepted the candy and offered tea. "I'll take care of that, honey," said Natalia, taking out her wand and conjuring a teapot, two tea cups, and a glass of apple juice. She then summoned a plate of small cakes and the sugar bowl from the kitchen.

Beth insisted on pouring the tea and asked, "Do you take sugar, Professor Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore chuckled and replied, "Yes, two spoonfuls will be fine, Beth. Thank you." Beth stirred in two spoonfuls of sugar, handed him the cup and saucer, and then sat down.

"Now, Miss Harper, I'm here to discuss Beth," said Dumbledore. "I was informed on Friday that it didn't look as if Beth was at her relatives' home. When Minerva went to check yesterday, it turned out to be case. We checked the Hogwarts register, which informed us that Beth's last name was now 'Potter-Harper', and listed her address as this location. So I came to check."

Natalia nodded. "About five years previous, one of the tenants and her son found Bethany on the doorstep of the building. That evening, all the tenants, other than the children and two of the parents to look after them, got together to decide what to do. I recognized Beth and decided to adopt her. I told the other tenants that I recognized Beth and explained that I had gone to school with her parents and heard that they died a couple of days ago. I didn't mention the wizarding world, of course. The other tenants agreed that it was the best choice, especially after I mentioned Beth's aunt."

"You knew about Petunia Dursley?" asked Dumbledore, surprised.

"I was Lily's dormmate and friendly with her," pointed out Natalia. "She had told me about her sister and I had heard that Beth was supposed to be left with her aunt. Since Petunia was jealous of Lily and hated magic, I put two and two together and gathered that she didn't want her niece and so left Beth here. When I mentioned this to the other tenants, they were horrified. Mr. Edmunson saidd that he didn't want Beth going to an orpahange, because then it'd feel too much like what her aunt did."

"Fine, then," said Dumbledore. "I suppose it's a good thing that Beth didn't remain with her aunt and uncle. If they had kept her. no doubt they would have made her life miserable." He turned to Beth and patted her on the head. "You are a very lovely young lady, Beth, and you've got a wonderful adoptive mother."

"Thank you, Professor," said Beth, smiling. "You're nice. You remind me of Grandpa."

"You mean Adam Harper?" asked Dumbledore. "He was a very good student. I was his teacher, you know."

"Wow, you're old, if you taught Grandpa!" exclaimed Beth. "You must be as old as Father Christmas!"

Dumbledore chuckled. "Actually, Father Christmas is older than me, because he's been giving good boys and girls Christmas presents before I was born, Beth."

"Oh. Well, I can't wait 'til I'm old enough to go to Hogwarts and have you as my headmaster."

Dumbledore smiled, gave Beth another lemon drop, and then finished his tea. After that, he got up and explained that he had to leave. Beth didn't look happy, but cheered up when he promised to visit again and said that she could visit Hogwarts.

"Can Hermione come with me?" she asked. "She's my best friend, and she's a witch too."

"Of course she may, if her parents agree," said Dumbledore. "Now, I really must go. Good-bye, Beth and Natalia."

Beth and Natalia bid him good-bye and saw him out the door. After that, Beth spent the rest of the day reading an easy book about the wizarding world.


	3. Chapter 3

Sirius Black was huddled in a corner of his cell, thinking nothing except the words "I am innocent". That was the only way he was able to prevent from being badly affected by the Dementors, for it wasn't a happy thought. Suddenly, the door of his cell opened and he looked, up startled. Surely it couldn't be time for the Minister's yearly visit.

Three Aurors and a young woman in her mid-twenties, whom Sirius hadn't seen since the deaths of Lily and James, stood there. "Get up," said one of the Aurors. "You're coming with us."

Sirius slowly did so, a questioning look on his face. "What's happening?" he asked hesitantly.

"You've been granted a trial," said Natalia crisply. "I was going through some papers two weeks ago and noticed that you were never given a trial, Sirius Black. I didn't think it fair and brought it up to my superior, Amelia Bones. She agreed and the matter was brought to Minister Bagnold, who decided that you could have one. We're taking you to it now."

Sirius blinked. After five years in Azkaban, he was being given a trial, and could finally prove his innocence. When he was first captured, he had been thrown into Azkaban without any hope for a trial and was told that it was a life sentence. If he hadn't kept thinking that he was innocent and occasionally transformed into his Animagus form, he would have gone crazy.

"Thank you, Natalia Harper," said Sirius quietly, allowing the Aurors to grab his arms and escort him out.

"Don't bother," said Natalia shortly. "At least, not unless you happen to be proven innocent, which is going to be rather difficult, seeing as all evidence is against you. This trial will just confirm your guilt, or prove that you are innocent."

The group walked out of Azkaban and then Apparated to the Ministry (Sirius was brought by Side-Along Apparation.) One of the Aurors performed a Scorgify charm on Sirius and another handed him a set of plain dark grey robes. The two male Aurors escorted him to another room so he could change and then they went down to the courtroom, where the entire Wizengamot was gathered. Natalia slipped into the seat next to Amelia Bones and readied parchment and quill, for she was to be Amelia's secretary during the trial.

Sirius sat down on the chair in front of the gathered people and the attatched chains sprung up and chained him to the seat. Minister Millicent Bagnold began. "We are here for the trial of one Sirius Orion Black, for the eleventh of October. Interrogators: Millicent Agatha Bagnold, Minister for Magic; Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Headmaster of Hogwarts, Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Edward Charles Melling. Charges: Secret-Keeper for Lily and James Potter and subsquentially betraying their location to You-Know-Who, believed to be a Death Eater, and is responsible for the deaths of Peter Pettigrew and twelve Muggles. Mr. Black, how do you plead?"

"Not guilty," responded Sirius.

There were several raised eyebrows. Natalia whispered in Amelia's ear. Her superior nodded and beckoned to one of the Aurors. "Please check Mr. Black's arms. I don't think anyone bothered to see if he had the Dark Mark."

The Auror in question, Kingsley Shacklebolt, did as requested. There were gasps as the entire Wizengamot saw that Sirius did not have the Dark Mark branded on either arm. "That doesn't prove anything!" exclaimed Umbridge. "The Mark could have vanished when You-Know-Who was defeated."

"If that's the case, then explain why the Lestranges still had the Dark Mark on their arms when they were arrested after You-Know-Who's downfall," retorted Amelia Bones.

"Enough," interrupted Minister Bagnold. "Dawlish, please adminster the Veritaserum."

The Auror, Dawlish, stepped forward and poured three drops of Veritaserum in Sirius's mouth. Sirius did not resist at all and swallowed the potion.

"What is your name?"

"Sirius Orion Black."

"Were you the Secret-Keeper for Lily and James Potter?"

"No, I wasn't. I was at first, but I felt that I was too obvious a choice and would be targeted by Voldemort, so I convinced Lily and James to switch to Peter Pettigrew. He wasn't a very talented wizard and we thought Voldemort would never think that Pettigrew could be the Secret-Keeper."

There were more gasps, and many of the members began mumuring among themselves. Natalia blinked, but part of her didn't find this very surprising.

"So Peter Pettigrew was the Secret-Keeper and betrayed the location of the Potters to You-Know-Who?" asked Umbridge, frowning.

"Yes," answered Sirius. "He had become a Death Eater sometime after graduation."

There were more murmurs and gasps from everyone except Umbridge, whose eyes were narrowed and looked as if she didn't believe any of this. Dumbledore asked, "So what really happened regarding Pettigrew and the twelve Muggles, Sirius?"

"When I realized that Pettigrew had betrayed the Potters, I went after him. However, he turned out to be too cunning for me. When I cornered him, he shouted for the whole world to hear that I had betrayed the Potters before I could say anything. He must have held his wand behind his back, for the next thing I knew, the street had been blasted apart. Pettigrew faked his death by severing a finger and then transforming into his Animagus form of a rat and escaped."

"He was an Animagus?" demanded Minister Bagnold. "But he's not registered as one!"

"Yes," replied Sirius. "Pettigrew, James Potter, and I were illegal Animagi. We secretly learned while at Hogwarts so we could keep our friend company during the full moon. My form is a large black dog, James's form was a stag, and Peter's was a rat."

Umbridge's eyes darkened, and several other Wizengamot members weren't too happy either as they realized that the friend Sirius was referring to must be a werewolf. Natalia was surprised to hear about the Animagi thing, but she wasn't over the werewolf matter. She had suspected that Remus Lupin was a werewolf after she'd noticed that he was always missing during the full moon. Also, his excuses about why he was always absent wore thin. He couldn't say that he was sick every month, so he had concocted stories such as his mother was ill or a relative died. She hadn't said anything about it and didn't have a prejudice against werewolves the way many witches and wizards did. She had also eventually figured out that Sirius, James, and Peter had found out Remus's secret, but like good friends, didn't desert him.

"But you had nothing to do with the deaths of the Muggles or Peter Pettigrew," pressed Minister Bagnold.

"Correct. Peter Pettigrew was the one that was responsible for the Muggles' deaths and he faked his death and escaped. I suppose he's hiding out as a rat even now."

"Well, it looks like we were wrong about you, Mr. Black," said Amelia Bones. There were many nods.

"Those that find Sirius Black not guilty?" asked Minister Bagnold. The entire Wizengamot raised their hands, except for Umbridge and a frizzy-haired witch behind her.

"Those that find Sirius Black guilty?" Umbridge raised her hand. The frizzy-haired witch didn't.

"Very well," said Minister Bagnold briskly. "Sirius Black, you are cleared of all charges formerly against you. There is the matter of you being an illegal Animagus, but some of time you spent in Azkaban can cover that. I advise you to get yourself registered as soon as possible, however. You are also granted fifty thousand Galleons as compensation for your term at Azkaban. Amelia Bones, for pushing that Sirius Black be given a trial, I authorise a raise of seventy Galleons a month to your salary. Natalia Harper, for suggesting it in the first place, you are given a raise of fifty Galleons. I also suggest that you promote her, Amelia."

"This concludes the trial," said Dumbledore. The chains removed themselves from Sirius. He got up, wondering what to do. Dumbledore came forward and took Sirius away, promising to explain everything thoroughly and get him readjusted to living in the wizarding war.

The next morning, Beth picked up that day's edition of the _Daily Prophet_ and began reading the front page article. When she was done, she turned to her mother and asked, "Who is Sirius Black really, Mum? And did you really get him a trial?"

"Yes, I did," responded Natalia. "And since you've read the article, you should know who Sirius is."

"Mum, it only says that Sirius was believed to be a supporter of You-Know-Who and re-repon-reponzible for the deaths of Peter Pettigrew, twelve Muggles, and my real parents, but it now innocent. It doesn't say what kind of person he really is now. And Mum, what does re-reponzible mean?"

"It's _responsible_," corrected Natalia. "And if you want to know the meaning, why don't you look it up in the dictionary?"

"Okay," said Beth, doing as her mother said. Natalia rarely told Beth the meaning of new words, but instead had her check the dictionary.

After finding the meaning, Beth demanded, "Now, can you tell me 'bout Sirius Black, Mum?"

Natalia sat down and told everything she knew about Sirius, including the fact that he was Beth's godfather and would likely visit in a few days, for he'd want to get to know his goddaughter. Beth clapped her hands and looked excited when she heard that. "I'm going to tell Mia all about it later!"

"All right, but make sure nobody else can hear you when you do so, Beth," said Natalia. "Now hurry up and finish your breakfast, or you'll be late for school."

That day at work, Sirius came to see Natalia and Amelia Bones. He thanked them for getting him a trial and then arranged for him and Remus Lupin to visit Natalia and Beth that Saturday.

When Saturday came, Beth was very excited. She put on the new pale blue dress that she had talked her mother into buying for the visit and got her mother to curl her black hair and tie a matching blue ribbon in it. At ten o'clock, Hermione arrived, wearing her lilac dress from the previous Easter and her bushy hair now smooth and done in a French braid.

"Good, you're here," said Beth, dragging her best friend into the living room. "I didn't want to meet my godfather and my dad's other friend without having you here."

At ten thirty, Sirius and Remus arrived. Natalia led them into the living room. Hermione curtseyed and shyly said, "Hello, Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin."

Beth, on the other hand, jumped up and hugged Sirius and then Remus. "It's great to meet you! What do Mia and I call you?"

"Sirius, or Uncle Sirius, will do for me," answered Sirius. "Or you can use my nickname, Padfoot. Don't call me Mr. Black. It makes me feel old."

"Remus, Uncle Remus, or Uncle Moony will do for me," said Remus. "Moony's my nickname from school, by the way." The four sat down and Sirus and Remus proceeded to get to know Beth and Hermione better. After that was lunch, where Sirius and Remus entertained the girls with stories of all the things they had gotten into while at Hogwarts.

After lunch, Sirius and Remus continued the stories. Finally the visit ended at four thirty. It was arranged for Remus and Sirius to act as caretakers for Beth in the afternoons. Natalia had to work and someone had to keep an eye on Beth after school. Currently Beth spent her afternoons with Hermione, as the Grangers had a housekeeper, or Natalia paid Amy Clark, who was thirteen, to baby-sit. With the new arrangement, Beth would be taken care of and Sirius and Remus would be able to spend time with her. They would also visit on the weekends, except when Beth was visiting her uncle, aunt, and cousins.


	4. Chapter 4

Beth went to get the mail. She picked up the three envelopes lying on the mat and looked through them. One was the phone bill, another an advertisement for a cable company, and the third was - She let out an undignified shriek.

"What's the matter?" asked Natalia Black-Harper. Five months after Sirius had been freed, the two had started dating. Five years in Azkaban had caused Sirius to mature greatly, and unlike their three months at Hogwarts, the two had found themselves much more compatible. The end result was Sirius asking Natalia to marry him after a year of dating. After making that it was all right with Beth (she was thrilled at the idea of having her godfather become her adopted father), a wedding was planned. Six months later was a very lovely wedding. Remus had been best man, Mrs. Granger matron of honor and Mr. Granger a groomsman, Sirius's first cousin once removed, Nymphadora Tonks, had been bridesmaid, and Beth and Hermione were flower girls. After the honeymoon, Beth had her last name changed to 'Potter-Black". Also, they had moved out of the apartment and into a house, which happened to be down the street from the Grangers' home.

"I got my Hogwarts letter!" exclaimed Beth, waving the envelope. "Look! It says 'Miss B. Potter-Black, second bedroom, Number 5, Roselea Lane, Elmbridge, Surrey'. I can finally attend Hogwarts now!"

"That's wonderful," said Natalia, smiling. "When do you want to go for your supplies, dear?"

"The same time Hermione's going," responded Beth. "I'm going to see if she's gotten her letter yet." She ran into the kitchen and dialed the Grangers' number. After two rings, Hermione picked up.

"Beth!" a voice shrieked. "I was just about to call you! I got my Hogwarts letter today! Did you get yours?"

"Yep. Isn't this great? When are you free to go for your supplies, Hermione?"

"Let me ask my parents." There was a pause and a slight scuffling sound as Hermione put a hand over the receiver. However, Beth still heard Hermione yell, "Dad, when can we go to Diagon Alley to get my Hogwarts supplies?"

There was a reply, which Beth didn't hear, and then Hermione said, "Anytime next week is fine. The clinic isn't busy. There's only two appointments, one which is from eight to nine in the morning on Tuesday, and the other from five until six in the afternoon on Thursday. So if we go on Tuesday, it has to be after nine, and if it's on Thursday, we have to be back before five."

"How about Tuesday, after nine?" asked Beth. "That's the day of my birthday and it'd be really fun."

"Okay. I'll tell my parents and they can arrange all the details with yours."

"Sure," said Beth. "Want to come over later, Mia? We can discuss Hogwarts and everything."

"Okay," answered Hermione. "I'll see you after breakfast."

An hour later, Hermione came over and the two girls spent two hours talking about Hogwarts. True to Dumbledore's promise, both girls had visited Hogwarts several times. In fact, they had spent two weeks at Hogwarts last year, over the summer. Both had taken the opportunity to explore the castle and gotten to know all the teachers and staff. Somehow, they had managed to get on Filch's good side. The caretaker generally disliked students, but their politeness and courtsey had won him over. They had also managed to charm Professor Snape.

At first, Professor Snape could not have cared any less about the daughter of James Potter. So when he ran into the seven-year old Bethany one day, he had simply said brusquely, "Watch where you're going, young lady. Now move!"

Beth had blinked, then said, "Excuse me, but that was a rude thing to say. Mum says you have to be polite to everyone, 'cept if they're evil, like Satan or Vol-Volden-Voldenmore." She followed with a curtsey and a "How do you, Professor?"

Snape stared and had gotten a good look at Beth. She had James Potter's black hair, but her features were all Lily's. The looks alone had stirred up feelings in him. Also, her tone had been like Lily's. Not exactly like it, but still very much like it. Also, the annoyed look on Beth's face at the beginning had been exactly the way Lily had looked when he had first told her that she was a witch. He ignored Beth's mispronounciation of the Dark Lord's name and had apologized for his rudeness. After that, he had been on good terms with Beth, and later with Hermione. Last year, though, he had explained to the two girls he could not be nice to them in class, unless they somehow got Sorted into Slytherin.

Beth and Hermione had understood once he had explained why. After all, it would look odd if Snape was nice to those who weren't in Slytherin. It would be even more odd to Death Eaters and Voldemort if Snape was nice to the Girl-Who-Lived. His position as a spy for Dumbledore in the Death Eaters ranks could not be compromised, for Voldemort would one day return.

Sirius hadn't been too pleased that Beth was on good terms with Snape, but a long talk with her, Natalia, and Remus had made him see reason. After some reluctance, Sirius brought himself to apologize to Snape for all that had occured back in Hogwarts. For Beth's sake, Snape had accepted the apology. After some pushing on Beth's part, the two men had slowly managed to get over the past and were now on friendly terms, if not friends. Snape and Remus had also made up. Now the three men got along well in private, though in public they were forced to act as if they were still on unfriendly terms.

After lunch, the two girls went to the library to return the books they had borrowed last week and check out new ones. Beth and Hermione enjoyed reading immensely, and particularly loved fantasy books. Though they were witches and part of a magical world, they liked reading the different interpretations of magic in the Muggle world.

On Tuesday, at ten o'clock, the Blacks and Grangers drove London. They parked outside the Leaky Cauldron and Natalia had to point out the pub to the Drs. Grangers, for Muggles couldn't see it otherwise. They went inside and quickly headed for the back. Beth was wearing a hat, which hid her scar, and so she escaped attention. She really didn't want to have deal with all the fuss the customers in the Leaky Cauldron would have made if they had known who she was.

At Gringotts, the Grangers went to a counter to exchange pounds for Galleons. The Blacks went with a goblin named Griphook to the vault Natalia and Sirius shared. Beth had a vault that she inherited from her birth parents, but Sirius and Natalia told her to keep it for when she came of age and paid for all her things at the moment.

When they returned, they saw that Hagrid was there. He explained that Dumbledore had asked him to come to Gringotts to fetch something. Beth and Hermione were naturally curious as to what the something was, but Hagrid just said, "Don' ask questions. It's none of yeh business an' Dumbledore wouldn' want me tellin' yeh." He then wished Beth a happy birthday and told her that when she went to Flourish and Blotts later, he'd have a present for her. He then turned to Hermione and told her that he'd have something for her as well for starting Hogwarts.

The two families went to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, where the two girls were measured for their uniform. A round-faced, slightly plump boy with brown hair and eyes was also being fitted. A formidable looking elderly witch was looking on. The boy nervously introduced himself as Neville Longbottom and said that the woman with him was his grandmother. Beth and Hermione then introduced themselves and Neville's eyes went wide when he realized that Beth was the Girl-Who-Lived.

"Don't harp on that!" exclaimed Beth. "It can be such a pain to be famous. The first time I went to Diagon Alley, three years ago, all the people in the Leaky Cauldron made a big fuss. They shook my hand and introduced themselves and I got tired of it in five seconds. I can't remember the event that my made me famous, and I'm just a regular girl, anyway."

Neville nodded. "I can see why it can be pain. Well, I won't treat you any differently."

"Good," said Beth, smiling. Neville returned the smile.

"Want to be friends?" asked Hermione. "Beth and I think that you seem like a very nice boy and we wouldn't mind getting to know you better."

Neville stared. "You want to be friends with me? But - but - I'm not - I mean, I'm a terrible wizard. My family thought I might be all Muggle for ages. I didn't show any magic until I was eight, when my Great-Uncle Algie, accidentally dropped me out a window. I bounced all the way to garden and out onto the street. My grandmother was surprised, though pleased, when I got my Hogwarts letter, because she was afraid that I wasn't magic enough to attend. Great-Uncle Algie was so pleased that he said he'd buy me a toad today."

"Come on, you can't be a terrible wizard, Neville, or you'd never have been accepted to Hogwarts," said Hermione.

"All you need is some confidence and training and you'll be a great wizard, Neville," added Beth. "Besides, we're not planning to become friends with you based on your ability. We want to be friends with you because you seem like a nice person."

"Okay," said Neville uncertainly.

"Good," said Beth. "When we're done with our fittings, let's exchange addresses so we can write to each other before school starts. And I hope we're all get Sorted into the same house. But even if we're in different houses, we still want to be friends with you, Neville, that is, if you're still as nice as you seem now."

Neville nodded and after the fitting, they exchanged addresses. His grandmother was surprised that the Girl-Who-Lived and her best friend wanted to be friends with Neville, but Mrs. Longbottom approved of the friendship. The Longbottoms then went to the Apothecary to buy Potions supplies, while the Grangers and Blacks went to Flourish and Blotts.

At the bookstore, Hagrid presented Beth with a snowy owl for a birthday present. For Hermione, he had a journal and luxury quill pen. The girls thanked him for his present and then Hagrid had to leave. After buying books, the two families met up with Neville and his grandmother when buying parchment, quills, and ink. Beth and Hermione spoke some more with Neville. He was a bit shy and uncertain about himself, but he was definitely a very nice person. This made the girls even more certain that Neville would be a good friend.

The Longbottoms left after that and the other two families bought cauldron and potion supplies. Finally it was time to buy wands at Ollivander's. Mr. Ollivander was a somewhat creepy man with silver eyes. He was able to name the wands Natalia and Sirius had and asked if they were still in good working condition. Then he turned to Beth and told her what kind of wands her birth parents had. Finally he stared at her scar and informed her that he had, unfortunately, sold the wand that had given her the scar. After measurements, Beth began the process of finding the perfect wand.

When it became clear that she wasn't going to find a wand soon, Hermione began trying the discarded wands to save time. After twenty-something wands, Hermione found the perfect one, made of vine wood with a dragon heartstring core. Gold sparks shot out of the end as she waved it around.

Beth must have tried almost every wand in the store before she found hers. It was holly, phoenix feather core, eleven inches. As she touched it, she felt a warmth in her arm and as she waved it around, red sparks shot out of the end. Mr. Ollivander applauded, but then said that the phoenix that provided the feather for the core had also given one other feather. That had provided the core for Voldemort's wand. So the brother of Beth's wand had given her the scar. Natalia and Sirius raised their brows, while Beth and Hermione exchanged looks.

Finally the parents paid for the two wands and the families left. Beth frowned at her wand for several seconds, then shrugged. Her wand being the brother to Voldemort's wand couldn't be helped at all. She dismissed it from her mind and focused on enjoying her birthday.

With the shopping done, they went home. Beth had a small party with her adopted parents, the Grangers, and Remus. There was cake and ice cream, and Beth opened her presents. The Drs. Grangers had given her a pair of earrings and a journal. Hermione's gift was the books _Redwall _and _Mattimeo_, by the author Brian Jacques. Natalia's present was pink and purple nail polish and two books on Defense Against the Dark Arts and Sirius's gift was the latest broom, a Nimbus Two Thousand. Last was Remus's present, a set of dress robes and a wand charm for her charm bracelet.

Beth thanked everyone and put her gifts away, except the book _Redwall_, which she began reading. She had had a lovely birthday, made a new friend, and was going to start Hogwarts. She couldn't wait to start.


	5. Chapter 5

Beth put the letters she had gotten from Neville in a box and then put the box on a shelf in her closet. After, she looked around her room to make sure she had packed everything. Tomorrow she would be leaving for Hogwarts and she didn't want to forget anything, though she could write to her adopted parents and ask them to send anything she'd forgotten via Lily, her owl. It had taken two days, but in the end Beth had decided to name her new owl after her mother. The name also suited, for the owl was white and lilies were white (other than tiger lilies and a few other varieties).

"Beth, it's dinnertime!" called Natalia.

Beth locked her trunk and went to the bathroom to wash her hands. Then she went downstairs to the kitchen and helped set the table. Sirius and Remus came in. Remus didn't live with the Blacks, of course, though Natalia and Sirius had asked him to move in several times before. However, he came by for dinner ever day and stayed during the weekends as a compromise.

The next morning, Beth woke up at five o'clock and couldn't fall alseep again. She showered, brushed her teeth, and got dressed, then spent the three hours until breakfast reading _Hogwarts, a Histor_y. After breakfast, she put the book in her trunk and checked that everything was packed. After that, Sirius and Remus helped her load her trunk in the boot and then they drove to King's Cross Station in London.

The Grangers arrived about three minutes after the Blacks and Remus did. Natalia explained how to get through the barrier and then Beth and Hermione went through together. Several seconds later, Natalia and Mrs. Granger came through, holding hands, as Muggles couldn't go through the barrier without holding on to a witch or wizard. Sirius and Mr. Granger went through after them, and finally Remus came through.

Beth spotted Neville and his grandmother and waved them over. "Hi, Neville!" she exclaimed. "Hello, Mrs. Longbottom."

"Hello, Beth," said Neville, smiling. "Hi, Hermione. How are you?"

"We're fine," said Hermione. "Hello, Mrs. Longbottom."

Mrs. Longbottom smiled. "Hello, Bethany and Hermione." She then turned to the parents and greeted them. The three found an empty compartment towards the end of the train and tried to load their trunks. It was rather difficult and a pair of redheaded twins came over with an offer to help. As the adults were busy talking, Beth accepted. The twins helped the three load the trunks and then introduced themselves as Fred and George Weasley.

Beth, Hermione, and Neville introduced themselves in turn and the twins stared when Beth said her name. "_You're_ the Girl-who-lived?" asked Fred. (At least, Beth though it was Fred. She couldn't tell the twins apart.)

"Yes," responded Beth, sighing. "Please don't make a big deal of it. I'm just a regular girl."

"Okay," said George, grinning. "Don't worry." Then the twins' mother called them and they left.

The adults then turned to the three kids. Mrs. Longbottom said sternly, "Behave yourself, Neville, and be a credit to me and your parents. I hope you have a good time at Hogwarts and remember to write." She then hugged Neville.

Natalia, Sirius, and Remus hugged Beth and wished her well. Sirius also added in a whisper for Beth to not do anything the Marauders wouldn't do and to feel free to play some pranks, as long as she didn't caught for it. Remus told Beth to ignore whatever Sirius said and to just have a good time and do her best at school. Natalia hugged Beth tightly and told her to behave and not get in trouble if at all possible. "Be more like your mother, not like your father and his friends."

"Okay," said Beth. She returned the hugs and kissed her adoptive mother. Then the three kids boarded and leaned out the window to say their good-byes. The Hogwarts Express began moving and they waved. The adults returned the waves. Beth spotted a redheaded girl running after the train, half laughing, half crying. The twins and another red-haired boy, was leaning out a nearby window and waving. Apparently the three were brothers and the girl was their sister, who must be too young to attend Hogwarts yet.

The train then rounded the curve and the adults couldn't be seen anymore. Beth, Hermione, and Neville sat down. A minute later, the door to the compartment opened. The brother of the twins stood there uncertainly. "Um, can I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

"Sure," said Hermione cheerfully. She got up and helped the boy stow his trunk away.

The boy then sat down and said, "Hi, I'm Ronald Weasley, Ron for short."

The others introduced themselves and Ron gaped. "You're the _Girl-Who-Lived_?" he asked, looking at Beth.

"Yes, I am," said Beth, sighing.

"But why is your last name Potter-Black?" pressed Ron.

"Because my godfather, Sirius Black, married my adoptive mother and became my adoptive father, and I added his last name," answered Beth.

"Oh," said Ron. "Er, do you have the -?" He gestured at his forehead.

Beth brushed aside her bangs and revealed the scar. Ron stared at it, then seemed to realize that it was rude and looked away. "Do you, um, remember what happened that night, Beth?"

"Not really," said Beth. "All I recall is a flash of green light and a scream. Now, can we please talk about something else? I don't like focusing on the fact that I'm famous. I'm just a regular girl and want a normal life."

Ron turned scarlet. "Sorry. I didn't realize. How do you guys know each other?"

"Beth and I live on the same street and went to the same school," said Hermione.

"And I met them at Diagon Alley when getting my school supplies," said Neville. "Beth and Hermione introduced themselves to me and because they found me nice, asked if I wanted to be friends with them. I said yes and we've been writing to each other all during August."

"Fred and George are your brothers, right?" asked Beth. "They helped us get our trunks in the compartment."

Ron nodded. "Yeah, they are. They mentioned meeting you and your two friends, but I was afraid that it might have been one of their jokes." He went on to say that he had another brother named Percy, who was a fifth year and prefect, and two more named Bill and Charlie, who had already graduated. Last was his sister, Ginny, who wouldn't attend Hogwarts until next year.

There was a knock on the door and Julie came in, already in Hogwarts robes and the Hufflepuff prefect's badge on her robes. "Hi, Beth and Hermione. Are you okay?"

"Yes," said Beth. "Ron and Neville, this is my adoptive cousin, Julie Harper. She's in Hufflepuff. Julie, this is Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger."

"Nice to meet you, Ron and Neville," said Julie, smiling. "If you have any questions, you can ask me. If you get sorted into Hufflepuff, I'll be better able to help you. Well, I have to go now. Beth, Daniel might drop by as well. See you guys."

"Who's Daniel?" asked Ron.

"My cousin and Beth's brother," replied Beth. "He's a third year Slytherin." Seeing Ron and Neville's looks, she added, "Oh, he's very nice. He's one of the few decent Slytherins. Julie and Dan have another brother and sister. Evanna's the same age as your sister, Ron, and Mike is two youngers than them."

There was a second knock and Dan came in with another boy, who had the Ravenclaw crest on his robes. "Hello," said Dan. "How are you, Beth?"

"I'm fine, Dan," said Beth.

Dan smiled. "That's good. Oh, this is my friend Ralph Thewlis. He's in Ravenclaw."

Beth nodded and introduced Neville and Ron. "Pleasure to meet you guys. Maybe one of you four will end up in Slytherin. We need more decent Slytherins and combat the stupid reputation the house has."

Beth shook her head. "Well, don't look to me. I don't have anything against Slytherin, and I like Professor Snape, but Sirius would have a fit if I was Sorted there. Besides, if I ended up there, I'd be asked to play Quidditch for them, because I've inherited my dad's talent, and I really don't want to play on the team. Slytherin's winning streak needs to be broken."

Dan laughed. "All right, then. Well, Ralph and I are going now. Have fun, you guys."

When Dan and Ralph had gone, Ron asked, "You like Professor Snape, Beth? But from what my brothers told me about him, he favors Slytherins. They don't like him at all."

"Hermione and I have visited Hogwarts before," explained Beth. "We met Professor Snape and got to know him. He was friends with my real mum at Hogwarts, until he accidentally called her a 'Mudblood' in a fit anger at the end of fifth year. Their friendship broke up, but he's regreted his mistake ever since. Since I look like my mum, except for my hair, he grew to like me. Of course, he can't show it in public. He's gotten in the habit of being mean and only favoring Slytherins, and he has to keep it up or it'll look odd. Don't tell anyone else about it, though. They're not supposed to know."

"We won't," said Neville and Ron at the same time.

The witch with the food trolley came by then. Ron turned red and muttered that he had sandwiches. The other three went out in the hall to buy snacks. When they brought the food inside, they insisted on sharing with Ron. They spent the next hour working their way through the sweets and getting to know each other better.

Neville then noticed that his toad Trevor was gone, probably having escaped when the food trolley came by. The four of them began searching, stopping at each compartment and asking if the occupants had seen a toad. Finally Trevor was discovered by Ron, hiding in a box on the food trolley. Neville thanked Ron as he took his toad and the four returned to the compartment.

At around three, a boy with blond hair and a pale pointed face came by. Two thickset boys who looked mean were with him. "I heard that Bethany Potter's in this compartment," said the pale boy. "So, it's true?"

Beth stood up. "Hello. And it's Potter-Black. I added my adoptive father's last name to my original one. And I prefer being called Beth. Now, you are?"

"I'm Draco Malfoy," responded the boy. "Oh, and these two are Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle."

"Nice to meet you," said Beth politely. She had heard of the Malfoy family, and how Lucius Malfoy was likely a Death Eater, but had avoided arrest by claiming that he'd been bewitched by Voldemort and donating a great deal of money to the Ministry. She didn't care for the Malfoy family, but so far Draco had been polite, so she was going to be polite as well.

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to be friends," said Draco.

Beth raised a brow. "Well, I already have four friends, Draco." She gestured at Hermione, Neville, and Ron.

Draco looked at them, one brow raised. "You're friends with a Weasley? But they're blood traitors! And who're the other two?"

"That's Neville Longbottom," said Beth. "And the girl is my best friend, Hermione Granger."

"Granger?" inquired Draco. "Are you related to Hector Dagworth-Granger, who founded a potions society?"

"I don't think so," replied Hermione. "I'm Muggleborn."

"Oh, a Mudblood," said Draco dismissively. "And you're the boy who was looking for a toad. Clearly you're behind the times if you have a toad for a pet."

Neville turned red, while Hermione and Ron got to their feet angrily. Beth spoke first, however. "Draco Malfoy, if you really wish for me to be your friend, insulting the friends I already have is not the way to go about it. Or didn't you learn any manners at all? My adoptive parents brought me up to be polite to everybody, which is the only reason I'm not being rude to you after you've insulted my friends. Now apologize to my friends please."

Draco froze, then reluctantly said, "Sorry."

"Good," said Beth. "Now, please do not insult my friends again. Hermione being Muggleborn doesn't make her any less of a witch. In fact, she knows the contents of all our set books, and she practiced a few simple spells before and they all worked for her within the first few tries. As for Ron, just because his family doesn't think purebloods are superior doesn't make him a blood traitor. If wizards didn't marry Muggles or Muggleborns in the first place, they'd have all died out. Also, if you only marry purebloods, eventually it leads to inbreeding and that's not good. And Neville isn't behind the times. He didn't pick out the toad for a pet. It was a gift from his great-uncle, and Neville could hardly refuse without being impolite."

A pink tinge appeared in Draco's cheeks, but he didn't look angry. In fact, he looked thoughtful. "I suppose you have a point, Beth," he conceded. "I need to think about this. I won't insult your friends again." He turned and left, the thoughtful look still on his face. Crabbe and Goyle looked somewhat confused, but followed Draco out the compartment.

"What just happened?" asked Ron. "First Draco Malfoy insults us, then he says he won't do it again and leaves, looking thoughtful."

"What I said just made an impression, that's all," said Beth shrugging. "Sometimes that happens. For example, Professor Snape was enemies with my father and his friends. So when I got along with Professor Snape, Sirius wasn't too happy about it. But after I spoke to him, he apologized and Snape accepted the apology. Remus, my father's other friend, also apologized. He didn't bother Snape, but he rarely stopped my dad and Sirius from bullying him. After that, they worked to forget the past and get along. Now they're friendly with each other in private, though in public they still have to act as if they're still enemies. "

"Well, if Draco sees things your way, he may end up turning out different from his father," said Neville.

"I hope so," said Beth. "Though I don't really plan on being friends with him. We're too different. But if he changes and becomes friendly, I will be friendly to him in turn."

After that, Ron and Neville stepped out so Beth and Hermione could change into their robes. Then the two girls went out so the boys could put on their robes. They put the rest of their sweets away and the discussion turned to the Sorting. Ron said that Fred had told him that it hurt, but he was sure that Fred was joking.

Beth smiled. "He was joking. Hermione and I weren't told the details, but Mum, Sirius, and Remus assured us that it wasn't anything difficult. All it involves is looking at your qualities and deciding which house you're best suited in based on them."

Ron looked relieved, but Neville said dismally, "My qualities will show that I'm best suited for Hufflepuff, I bet. Not that there's anything wrong with the house, but my parents were in Gryffindor and I'm sure Gran would want me to be in Gryffindor, too."

"I'm sure you have courage," said Hermione encouragingly. "Neville, you just need some confidence. Once you gain some, you'll be great. There's this Muggle book called _The Wizard of Oz_. One of the characters is the Cowardly Lion. But he's really not cowardly at all. He just thought he was and so went to seek this wizard in hopes that he could be given courage. But what he really lacked was confidence. After all, during the quest to find the wizard, he bravely stood up to a scary monster that was threatening him and his companions."

"Okay," said Neville, frowning. "So what happened to the Cowardly Lion?"

"Well, eventually the wizard gave the Cowardly Lion something to drink. He said that once it was drunk, it would be courage. So the Cowardly Lion thought he had gained courage and after that, fulfilled his destiny to be King of Beasts."

"So I just need to believe in myself and I will prove myself to be brave," said Neville slowly.

"Of course," said Beth. "Though it doesn't matter if you get into Hufflepuff. It's a great house, and you can still be brave. My cousin Julie's a brave person, but she's in Hufflepuff. Her qualities of being loyal and hard-working just overshadowed her being brave. And a cousin of my adoptive dad is currently training to be an Auror, and she was in Hufflepuff."

Neville cheered up slightly. Just then, the door opened again and a pug-faced girl with dark hair walked in. Behind her was a girl that seemed to be built along the lines of Crabbe and Goyle and a girl with brown hair that was pretty compared to the other two. "This is the compartment where Bethany Potter is?" asked the pug-faced girl.

"Yes, and it's Potter-Black," said Beth. "Who are you and your friends?"

"Oh, I'm Pansy Parkinson," replied the girl. "These are Millicent Bulstrode and Tracey Davis. Why is your name 'Potter-Black'?"

"Because my godfather, Sirius Black, became my adoptive father and I elected to add his last name to mine."

"Oh," said Pansy. "Who are the three with you?"

"That is my best friend Hermione Granger. And the other two are Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom, our new friends."

"So you're hanging out with a Mudblood, blood traitor, and the stupid boy who lost his toad and has insane parents."

Beth shot to her feet. "Don't you dare insult my friends, Pansy Parkinson!"

"Pansy can do what she wants," said Tracey. "It's a free country, isn't it? Besides, why are you friends with losers? Some wizarding families are better than others, and we can help you with that. So ditch those losers and be friends with us."

Beth's tone grew icy. "My friends are not 'losers'. They are much better people than you. And insulting them is not the way to get me be friends with you. Until you learn some manners and start being nice, I have absolutely no intention of being even on friendly terms with you three. Now kindly leave this compartment."

"You'll be sorry," said Pansy. "Your parents were stupid enough to get themselves killed and you're stupid enough to refuse to be friends with us. If you're not careful, you'll just end up like your parents."

"Well, I'd rather be dead than desert my friends and become friends with idiots like you," retorted Beth. "Now get out before I lose my temper and do something I'll regret." Pansy glared at her, then she, Tracey, and Millicent left.

Beth sat down, silently counting to twenty to calm down. When she was done, she said, "Honestly, who does Pansy think she is? At least Draco Malfoy seems willing to see reason and rethink what he was taught. But Pansy doesn't seem to want to be like that. Er, Neville, you don't have to tell us, but what did Pansy mean when she said you had insane parents?"

Neville hesitated, then told the other three about how his parents had been tortured into insanity by Death Eaters who had thought the Longbottoms might have some idea as to Voldemort's whereabouts after his defeat. Beth gasped when she heard that one of the Death Eaters had been Bellatrix Lestrange. "But that's Sirius's ex-cousin! He mentioned her once and said that she was in Azkaban. He never told me the reason why, other than that she was a Death Eater."

"Ex-cousin?" asked Ron, looking confused.

"Oh, Sirius was disowned by his family when he ran away at the age of sixteen," explained Beth. "He went to stay with my dad and his parents. It was inevitable, for Sirius was Sorted into Gryffindor when the Blacks traditionally have been in Slytherin."

"You mentioned that he had a cousin in Hufflepuff," said Neville.

Beth nodded. "That's Nymphadora Tonks, but she'll kill you if you call her by her first name. Her dad and Sirius call her Dora, and everyone else goes by her surname. And Tonks is actually Sirius's first cousin once removed. Her mother, Andromeda, is Sirius's first cousin. Aunt 'Dromeda was in Ravenclaw and got disowned by the Blacks for marrying a Muggleborn, Uncle Ted."

Hermione said hesitantly, "What happened to your parents is terrible, Neville. And don't worry, we won't speak of this if you don't want, since it seems to be a touchy subject."

Neville swallowed. "I'm proud that my parents were so brave and all, but I really wish it hadn't had happened. Otherwise I'd be living with them and not my Gran. Though I do love my Gran very much."

Beth patted his hand and Ron said, "At least they're still alive and you can visit them in St. Mungo's, Neville. Though I guess that's not much comfort, considering that they don't recognise you."

"Well, I have relatives that love me and take care of me, and you guys are my friends," said Neville. "It's better than what some people's lives are like."

Beth recalled a book she had recently read and had to agree. The main character had a very unpleasant life at home and her only escape was books and daydreaming. Eventually, a real escape was granted her and she left for the capital city, where she discovered she had been Chosen to be the second-most important person in the kingdom, under the monarch. After that, her life was better, though she still had some difficulties. At least Neville's relatives loved him and meant well, unlike the book character's relatives, who had abused her, emotionally and by her half-brother, physically.

The train began slowing down. "We must be arriving," said Hermione, changing the subject.

A minute later, the train came to a complete stop. A voice told everyone to leave their luggage, it would be brought up to the castle later. Everyone disembarked. Hagrid was calling all the first years over to him. He greeted Beth and Hermione and then led the first-years to a group of boats. They would be crossing the lake to get to the castle. Four people were to a boat and Beth, Hermione, Ron, and Neville clambered into one. Hagrid got into the lead boat and they set off.

When they reached the other side, everyone got off and walked up the path to the castle. When they reached the front door, Hagrid raised his hand and knocked.

Author's Note: Elmbridge is a real town in Surrey. I looked it up on Wikipedia. The town is near London. I forgot to mention it in the last chapter, but Beth's adopted uncle, aunt, and cousin also sent her birthday presents. I also have a question for readers. Do you want Beth, Ron, Neville, and Hermione to be in different houses instead of having them all be in Gryffindor? Please leave your answer in a review or send me a PM. I personally don't want Beth to end up in Slytherin. Like Beth, I have nothing against the house, but I can't stand the idea of Slytherin continuing the streak of winning the Quidditch Cup. But if a majority of reviewers want it to happen, I will do so.


	6. Chapter 6

The door swung open. A tall witch with a stern face and glasses stood in the hall, dressed in green robes. "The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

Professor McGonagall nodded. "Thank you, Hagrid. I will take it from here." She led the first-years to a room next to the Great Hall and proceeded to give her customary speech about the four houses of Hogwarts, how your house was like your family, and that the house with the most points would be awarded the House Cup at the end of the year. Then she said that she would return in a couple of minutes so that they could be Sorted and advised that they take the opportunity to tidy up. Her gaze lingered on Ron, who had a smudged nose, and Neville, whose cloak was fastened under his ear.

When McGonagall had left, Beth nervously retied her red hair ribbon and then fiddled with a lock of her black hair. She really wanted to be in Gryffindor, the house her parents, adoptive parents, Remus, and Dumbledore had been in, though she didn't have any objection to the other houses. Well, she didn't want to be in Slytherin because of Quidditch, but if she was Sorted there, it wouldn't be the end of the world. Sirius might have a fit, but then he'd calm down and support her. Besides, there needed to be more decent Slytherins, besides Daniel, Professor Snape, and Professor Slughorn, the Potions teacher before Snape. Well, Snape wasn't exactly nice in public, but he did have a soft side, and he was one of the good guys.

Several gasps and a small scream interrupted Beth's thoughts. She turned to see about twenty ghosts floating in, all arguing about something. From the conversation, it seemed to involve Peeves the Poltergeist. Then the Gryffindor ghost, Sir Nicolas de Nimsy-Porpington, more commonly known as Nearly-Headless Nick, noticed the students. The other ghosts turned to look at them and the Fat Friar, who was the Hufflepuff ghost, said that he hoped to see some of them in Hufflepuff, his old house.

Professor McGonagall returned then and led the first years into the Great Hall. Beth looked around in awe, for she had never seen the Great Hall during the school year, only during the summer. Up at the staff table, Dumbledore nodded in her direction. Beth returned the nod and then looked at Professor Quirrell. He originally had been the Muggle Studies teacher, but had taken a sabbatical for the past two years to gain real-life experience in Defence Against Dark Arts. He was the Defence teacher that year and Beth wondered what his classes would be like. He looked distinctly odd in a purple turban, and he had a nervous look on his face as he whispered something to Professor Snape.

Beth turned her attention to McGonagall, who set a frayed, dirty, patched hat on top of a three-leaded stool. There was a few seconds of silence, then a rip in the brim opened and the Hat began to sing about the four houses. So that was the object that would look at your qualities and decided what house you were best suited for, Beth thought.

When the song ended, the students burst into applause and then Professor McGonagall unrolled a scroll. She called the students up one by one alphabetically for them to be sorted. First was Hannah Abbott, a gril with her hair done in pigtails. She was Sorted into Hufflepuff. Next was Susan Bones, the niece of Amelia Bones, who was Natalia's superior. Beth had met Susan before and with Hermione, had spent some time with her. Susan had never really become a close friend, but she was on good terms with them and occasionally they exchanged letters.

Susan was Sorted into Hufflepuff and she hurried off to join Hannah. Third was Terry Boot, who was in Ravenclaw. Mandy Brocklehurst joined him Ravenclaw, but Lavender Brown became the first Gryffindor. Fred and George catcalled as Lavender headed for the Gryffindor table. Millicent Bulstrode ended up in Slytherin, not to Beth's surprise. Beth wasn't surprised either when Crabbe, Goyle, and Tracey Davis were also sorted Slytherin.

Sometimes the Sorting Hat took longer with a student. Seamus Finnigan sat on the stool for almost a minute before he was finally declared a Gryffindor. When it was Hermione's turn, she ran to the stool and eagerly jammed the Hat on her head. Beth was certain that her friend would end up in either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, because she was both clever and brave. After several seconds, the Sorting Hat called out, "GRYFFINDOR!" Hermione grinned and hurried to the Gryffindor table, pausing long enough to whisper to her friends, "Hope you get in Gryffindor too, guys."

Neville stumbled on his way to the stool. He also sat for a long time before the Hat called out, "GRYFFINDOR!" He looked delighted as he took off the Hat and went to join Hermione. On the way, he gave Beth and Ron a thumbs up.

After Ernie Macmillian was sorted into Hufflepuff, it was Draco Malfoy's turn. Draco slowly made his way to the stool, a slight frown on his face. He sat on the stool almost as long as Neville. Finally the Hat shouted out, "RAVENCLAW!" There was complete and utter silence at this declaration. Beth glanced at Professor Snape and saw that he looked shocked. Draco took off the Hat and made his way to the Ravenclaw table, neither pleased or displeased, but thoughtful. There was some weak applause as he sat down, and one of the prefects, a stunned look on his face, shook Draco's hand.

The Sorting continued. Theodore Nott and Pansy Parkinson ended up in Slytherin. Padma Patil was in Ravenclaw and her twin Parvati ended up in Gryffindor. After Sally-Ann Perks, Professor McGonagall called out, "Potter-Black, Bethany." The shock over a Malfoy being in Ravenclaw changed to surprise over Beth. There were whispers about the Girl-Who-Lived and several people asked why her last name was 'Potter-Black', for it wasn't common knowledge that Sirius was her adopted father.

Beth calmly made her way to the stool and set the Hat on her head. A little voice in her ear said, "Well, this is interesting. You have the qualities of all the houses, and you really have no objection to any one of them. Well, there is the problem of having to play Quidditch for Slytherin, but otherwise you wouldn't mind being there. So where should I put you?"

"Wherever you think it best, sir," though Beth in reply. "Though I would like to be in Gryffindor because my best friend is there, along with another friend."

"Are you certain?" asked the Hat. "You would fit well in Gryffindor, but you could fit just as well in Slytherin or Hufflepuff."

"Yes, I'm sure," answered Beth. "I would really like to be in Gryffindor."

"All right then," said the Hat. "If you're sure, then I will place you in - GRYFFINDOR!"

The last word was shouted out to the entire hall. Beth took off the hat, a happy grin on her face, and headed for the Gryffindor table, pausing long enough to whisper, "Good luck, Ron." Ron nodded in reply and Beth sat down, finally noticing that she was receiving the loudest cheer yet. Fred and George cheered, "We got Beth Potter-Black!" and Percy shook Beth's hand.

There were four people left to be Sorted. Lisa Turpin was Sorted into Ravenclaw, and Dean Thomas, a black boy even taller than Ron, was Sorted into Gryffindor. Next was Ron. His face looked very pale under his freckles. The Sorting Hat declared him to be a Gryffindor and he looked relieved as he took it off. Beth joined in the cheers and Percy said pompously, "Well done, Ron," as Ron sat down. Last was Blaise Zabini, who was Sorted into Slytherin.

Professor McGonagall took the Sorting Hat and stoll away and Professor Dumbledore stood up. With the words, "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!", the feast began. Beth, who was always accustomed to having grace said before eating, quickly whispered, "I thank you Lord for your bounty and please bless my family, friends, and me. Amen," before filling her plate.

While eating, Sir Nicolas looked on as Beth cut her steak and said wistfully that it looked good. He then introduced himself and Ron exclaimed, "My brothers told me about you! You're Nearly-Headless Nick!"

The ghost began to say that he preferred Sir Nicolas, but Seamus interrupted to ask how he could be nearly headless. Sir Nicolas, looking annoyed, replied irritably, "Like this," and then seized his ear and pulled. It was obvious that someone had tried to behead him but hadn't done a proper job. Pleased by the looks on everyone's faces, he resettled his head and then said that he hoped Gryffindor would win the house cup this year, for Slytherin had won for the past six years.

After everyone had their fill of the main course, the leftovers disappeared, to be replaced by dessert. Beth took some treacle tart and a small bowl of strawberry ice cream. The talk turned to families and Seamus revealed that he was half and half. His father was a Muggle and his mother hadn't revealed that she was a witch until after the wedding. It had been quite a shock for Mr. Finnigan. Beth explained that she had been adopted by a witch who later married her godfather and that she had added her adoptive father's last name to her old one.

As Neville told the others that he was brought up by his grandmother and that his family thought he might have been all-Muggle for ages, Beth looked at the staff table again. Professors Quirrell and Snape glanced at her, and as they did so, she felt a flash of pain in her scar. She gasped and clapped a hand to her forehead. Hermione turned to look at her and asked in a whisper, "What's the matter, Beth?"

"Nothing, my scar just hurt for a second," responded Beth. "I'll write to Mum and Sirius tomorrow and ask about it."

Hermione nodded and Parvati then asked about her parentage and how she was friends with Beth. Hermione answered, "I'm Muggleborn, Parvati. And Beth lives on the same street as me and we went to the same primary school."

Soon the remains of dessert disappeared and Professor Dumbledore stood up to give his announcements. He told everyone that the forest on the gorunds was forbidden, that Quidditch tryouts would be held the second week of school, magic was not allowed in the corridors, and that the third-floor corridor was off-limits to anyone who didn't wish to die a horrible death. Beth wondered about that last bit until Dumbledore announced that the school song was to be sung. She picked the tune of "God Save the Queen" to sing the song to.

Finally only the Weasley twins were left singing to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted the last few lines for them and when they were done, said, "Ah, music, a magic beyond anything we teach here! Well, bedtime now. Off you trot!"

The prefects were responsible for showing the first-years to their common rooms. Percy took charge of the Gryffindors and led the way out the hall and up the stairs. On the way, they ran into Peeves. Percy had to threaten to go to the Bloody Baron, the Slytherin ghost, before the Poltergeist would leave. As they continued, Percy warned about Peeves. Not long after that, they reached the Gryffindor common room. A portrait of a fat lady dressed in pink asked, "Password?"

"Caput Draconis," replied Percy and then the Fat Lady swung forward to reveal an entrance hole. They all clambered through (Neville needed a leg up), and then Percy pointed out the staircases to the boys' and girls' dorms. Beth and Hermione went up the girls' staircase and entered the door labeled "First-Years." Their trunks had already been brought up and the two girls selected beds. Lavender and Parvati appeared second later and took the remaining two beds. Beth felt tired, so she brushed her teeth, changed into her nightgown, and went to bed, bidding her dormmates 'good-night." She soon fell asleep, without any dreams.

Author's Note: I hope you don't mind Draco ending up in Ravenclaw. What Beth said to him had made a strong impression, and he thought all about it for the rest of the train ride. The Sorting Hat saw that he was rethinking his views, and so after some consideration, decided that Ravenclaw would be best so Draco could fully change. Most of the reviewers said that they wanted Beth in Gryffindor, so I did that, and decided that her friends might as well join her. Beth's archenemy is going to be Pansy now, with Tracey Davis sometimes joining in. I also have a question for the readers. Should Susan become better friends with Beth? Please leave your answer in a review or PM. Thank you.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Beth wrote a letter each to her parents and Remus. In the one to her parents, she started by saying that she in Slytherin, then wrote, "Hahaha! Just kidding, Sirius. Get over your shock and rejoice, because I've been Sorted into Gryffindor." Then she went on to tell them that Hermione and Neville were in Gryffindor too, and they had become friends with Ron Weasley, also in Gryffindor. She ended with that she was excited about classes and then headed for the Owlery.

Percy told Beth the directions. When she got there, she saw that Susan Bones was also there, sending a letter to her parents or aunt. "Hi, Susan," said Beth, smiling.

"Hi, Beth," replied Susan, returning the smile. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. Do you like being in Hufflepuff?"

"Yes, it's great," answered Susan, beaming. "I'm friends with Hannah Abbott, and I got to know Ernie Macmillian and Justin Finch-Fletchley last night. Oh, your cousin Julie, is terrific. She helped me find my way to the Owlery this morning, and told me that if I had questions or needed someone to talk to, I was to feel free to go to her."

"She's naturally a helpful and nice person," said Beth. "That and her good grades and behavior is the reason why she was made a prefect." Lily flew down from her perch and Beth tied the letters to her owl's leg. "Now, deliver the letters to my adoptive parents and Uncle Remus, all right, Lily?"

Lily hooted and gently nipped Beth's finger in reply before flying out the window. The two girls then made their way to the Great Hall, chatting about how they thought of Hogwarts so far.

After breakfast, classes officially began. Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall was interesting. She was quite strict, unlike the kind way she had been to Beth and Hermione when they visited. The first class she told everyone that Transfiguration was difficult and anyone who misbehaved would leave her class and not return. Then she transfigured her desk into a pig and back again. Everyone was very impressed, then disappointed when they found out they wouldn't be learning stuff like that.

After taking some complicated notes, each student was handed a match and given directions to turn it into a needle. Hermione was able to do this sucessfully in six tries. McGonagall was impressed. She showed the class how well Hermione had done and then awarded her five points and a rare smile. Ten tries later, Beth was also able to succeed. McGonagall awarded her one point and also showed the class how well Beth had done.

By the end of class, Ron had turned his match silvery, but it still had the thickness of a match. All Neville had managed was to make his match pointy and thickness fo a needle, but otherwise still looked and felt like a match. None of the other students had been able to turn their match into a needle like Hermione and Beth did.

Charms with Professor Flitwick was nice. He was the Head of Ravenclaw and so short that he had to stand on a pile of books just so he could see over his desk. He wasn't anywhere as strict as McGonagall and was a cheerful teacher. Three times a week, Herbology was held in the greenhouses. The teacher was Professor Sprout, who was also the Head of Hufflepuff. The class was taken with the Hufflepuffs and it was the one class Neville excelled in. To his surprise and delight, he won five points for Gryffindor for answering two questions correctly. After class, Beth, Hermione, and Ron made a point of praising Neville for it, because it would boost his confidence.

Astronomy class was held every Wednesday at midnight. Professor Sinistra was the teacher. History of Magic was a very boring class. The teacher, Professor Binns, was a ghost. He had been very old when he had fallen asleep by the staff fire and he he, or rather his ghost, had gotten up to teach as usual the next day, leaving his body behind. He droned on and on in a monotone voice and most students fell asleep in his class. Hermione was the only one that paid any attention at all to Binns. Beth spent class reading the textbook and taking notes, and Neville did the same. Ron sometimes did it as well, but other times he did homework or ended up falling asleep.

Defence Against the Dark Arts turned out to be a joke. Professor Quirrell stuttered heavily when he spoke. Apparently when he had gone to get first-hand experience, he had faced some things that had frightened him greatly. His room smelled of garlic, which was to ward off a vampire he had met and was afraid would one day go after him. His turban, he said, had been a gift from an African prince for getting rid of a troublesome zombie. Nobody was sure if they believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus had asked eagerly how Quirrell had gotten rid of the zombie, the professor had turned pink and started talking about the weather. For another, there was a strange smell around the turban and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic so Quirrell would be protected wherever he went.

After the second class, Hermione complained that they weren't learning much in Defence, spell-wise. She decided that it would be best to form a study group and Beth seconded the idea. She suggested that it be open to all first years and they could find an empty classroom or another room where they could all meet. They could work on spells and help each other with homework.

Beth and Hermione brought the matter to Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall and they thought it a splendid idea. McGonagall suggested that they make the study group open to older students as well, because then they could tutor the younger students if necessary. Dumbledore then found a portrait of the Hogwarts Founders in an out-of-way corridor that concealed the entrance to a room large enough to accomodate up to two hundred students. He saw to it that it was furnished with long tables and chairs for people to study at and cleared a space where people could practice spells. He added some cushions and installed bookshelves filled with books.

Notices were pinned up in the bulletin boards of each common room and outside the Great Hall informing everyone about the new study group and that the first meeting would be held next Monday evening. It went on to add that there would be meetings every weekday evening, but you didn't have to attend if you had Quidditch practice, detention, or something else that would prevent you from showing up. Anyone wishing to join the study group would have to contact the portrait of the Founders, who would tell you the password.

On Tuesday morning, at breakfast, Draco Malfoy received a Howler. Beth clapped her hands over her ears when it was opened, but she still heard the voice of Lucius Malfoy shout, "_DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY, YOU ARE AN UTTER DISGRACE TO THE FAMILY! THE MALFOY FAMILY HAS ALWAYS BEEN IN SLYTHERIN, BUT YOU END UP IN RAVENCLAW! IT MIGHT NOT BE AS TERRIBLE AS BEING IN GRYFFINDOR OR HUFFLEPUFF, BUT IT IS STILL A DISAPPOINTMENT! I AM MOST DISPLEASED WITH YOU AND WILL FIND A SUITABLE PUINISHMENT FOR YOU WHEN YOU RETURN HOME. I SUGGEST YOU SPEAK TO PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE ABOUT A RESORTING, IN CASE THE SORTING HAT MADE A MISTAKE ABOUT YOU._"

When it ended, Beth removed her hands and looked over at the Ravenclaw table. Draco was red and looked as if he wanted to sink into the ground and disappear. She jumped up and went over to him. "Hello, Draco," she said pleasantly.

Draco looked up at her. "Oh, it's you, Beth," he said dully. "Hello."

"You're not a disgrace to your family, Draco," she said, sitting down next to him. "You know the reputation your family has of being into the Dark Arts, and you can change it. Your being in Ravenclaw will be good for you."

Draco managed a small smile. "I guess, Beth. But maybe I should just ask to be resorted. Maybe my father is right about Mud-Muggleborns and I should just -"

"Don't you dare!" exclaimed Beth. "You're a good person, if you can just get over what your father told you. I don't want you acting the way you did on the Hogwarts Express, when you insulted my friends."

He paused, for he sincerely wanted to be friends, or at least on friendly terms, with Beth. That wan't going to happen if he acted like a stuck-up person convinced in pureblood supremency. And he wasn't convinced about pureblood supremency at the moment. One of his dormmates, Terry Boot, was Muggleborn, and he had done very well so far in classes. So obviously those from wizarding families weren't better than those from Muggle ones.

"Okay, Beth," said Draco, smiling. "I know my father isn't right about Muggleborns, anyway. I'm remaining in Ravenclaw and my father will just have to deal with it. And I'm sure my mother can talk my father around. She loves me no matter what." Then he frowned. "But what if I get pulled out from Hogwarts? My father wanted to send me to Durmstrang, because he knows the headmaster there and it's a school into the Dark Arts. But my mother didn't want me going so far away, so I ended up at Hogwarts after all. But now that I'm in Ravenclaw, Father could decide to send me to Durmstrang for real."

"Maybe if you spin it to your father that you're clever and intelligent and the Sorting Hat saw it as taking precedence over ambition and cunning, he'll accept it and not think about sending you to Durmstrang," suggested Beth. "Oh, and you might want to give your father the impression that you still think like him."

"I'll try that," said Draco. "Thanks, Beth."

"No problem, Draco," said Beth. She shook his hand and then returned to the Gryffindor table.

"Has Draco really changed?" asked Neville.

"It seems like it," responded Beth. "He was very polite and he said that he knows his father isn't right about Muggleborns. At least one of Draco's dormmates has to be Muggleborn and that must have had an affect on him."

"Well, even families with a reputation for being evil will have some members that turn out different," said Hermione.

"Well, Draco being in Ravenclaw instead of Slytherin must be an indication that he's changed," said Ron slowly. "I thought he was a stuck-up git on the Hogwarts Express, but now he's acting normal." Beth nodded and finished her breakfast.

Friday morning, Beth got a note from Hagrid, inviting her and her friends over for tea that afternoon. She accepted and then opened the letter and parcel from her parents. The parcel contained a box of chocolate chip and vanilla cookies, plus a few prank items that she was sure Sirius had slipped in unbeknownst to Natalia. Beth shared the cookies with her friends, and gave a few to Draco and some more to Susan and Hannah Abbott. She then read the letter. Sirius had spent a full moon night with Remus a couple of days ago. Natalia had also been promoted at work and was now working directly under Amelia Bones. She had also discovered something, but she wasn't going to tell Beth until the Christmas holidays.

Beth frowned. "What would have Mum discovered that she doesn't want to tell me yet?" she wondered out loud.

"Maybe you're going to have a little brother or sister," suggested Hermione.

Beth dropped the letter and stared at Hermione. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, your mother discovered something, but she doesn't want to tell you yet," said Hermione. "It could be that she discovered she's pregnant, but she wants to wait to tell you."

"I guess," said Beth, considering. Well, it was possible. After all, Sirius and Natalia had been married for three years and it was inevitable that a baby could result.

That day was the first Potions class, taken with the Slytherins. Professor Snape took a roll call the way Flitwick did. When he reached Beth's name, he paused and said, "Ah, yes, Bethany Potter-Black, our new _celebrity_." Pansy and Tracey stifled giggles. Beth didn't saw anything, because she knew that Snape didn't mean what he said and was merely putting on an act.

The roll call continued and then Snape proceeded to give a speech on the art and science of Potions. After that, he turned to a Slytherin girl and barked, "Miss Greengrass, where would you look if I told you to find me a beozar?"

"In the stomach of a goat, sir," replied Daphne.

Snape didn't show any reaction other than to say the answer was react and then turned to Beth. "Miss Potter-Black, what do an infusion of wormwood and asphodel make?"

"A powerful sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living Death, Professor," answered Beth.

"Correct. Mr. Longbottom, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

Neville jumped, then relaized that he had been asked a question that he could actually answer. "There is no difference, sir. It's the same plant, also known as aconite."

Snape nodded. "Correct. Maybe this class isn't as full of dunderheads as I thought. Five points to Slytherin, Miss Greengrass. And two points to Gryffindor."

After that, the class was put in pairs and began making an easy potion to cure boils. Beth was partnered with Neville, who was good at the theoretical part of Potions because of the connection with Herbolgy, but he wasn't very good at the practical part. She managed to stop him from adding the porcupine quills to early just in time. In the end, Neville did all the work of preparing the ingredients and Beth did the work of adding them and following all the directions.

At three that afternoon, they went to visit Hagrid, who was happy to be introduced to Ron and Neville. He poured tea and set out rock cakes. However, none of them touched the cakes. Beth and Hermione had experience with Hagrid's cooking before and his baking wasn't that great, except for birthday cakes.

Hagrid asked about their classes and complimented them on the idea of a study group. It would be a good way to bring the houses together, even if most of the Slytherins weren't interested. The only Slytherins that had signed up so far were Daniel, Daphne Greengrass, a third-year girl that Daniel was friends with, and a fourth-year boy.

After two hours, the four bid Hagrid good-bye and returned to the castle for supper.


	8. Chapter 8

On Monday evening was the first meeting of the study group. Students trickled in starting at five o'clock and stopped coming by six-thirty. The Head Boy and Girl and prefects helped organize things. Students working on spells went to the cleared area, which had a Silencing Charm so that the noise of people saying spells wouldn't disturb those that were studying or doing homework. Older students that were available for giving tutoring help added their names to a list.

Beth worked on her homework, occasionally asking Julie or Daniel for help. Then she joined the group working on spells. She practiced the Color-Changing Charm, and after helped Neville with his Transfiguration. When he had successfully transfigured a toothpick into a pin, Beth spent some time with Draco, helping each other with Potions for half an hour. After that, the younger students left for their respective common rooms, and the older students followed half an hour later.

On Thursday was the first flying class, Gryffindors with the Slytherins. Beth was very excited, for she loved flying and had inherited her father's talent. Neville, on the other hand, was very nervous about it. His grandmother had never let him a broom before, which Beth privately thought made some sense, for Neville had accidents even when he was on the ground.

At mail time, Neville received a small parcel from his grandmother. It contained a Rememberall, a small ball that would turn red when you forgot something. As he showed it to his friends, it turned red. "Oh no," he muttered, and tried to think of what he could have forgotten. Pansy Parkinson and Tracey Davis swept by then.

Pansy snatched the Rememberall out of Neville's hand and sniffed loudly. "What's this?"

Beth jumped to her feet and opened her mouth to say something, but Neville spoke first. "Return my Rememberall, Pansy."

"Make me," said Pansy nastily.

"Do it, Pansy," said Draco, appearing behind her. "You don't want to start something in front of the teachers."

Pansy glanced at the staff table, then dropped the Remembrall on the table. With another sniff, she and Tracey left.

"Thanks, Draco," said Neville. He stowed the Remembrall in his pocket.

Draco shrugged. "No need for thanks. See you guys later." He left the Great Hall as well.

That afternoon, the Gryffindors walked out to the Quidditch pitch. It was a clear, breezy day, perfect flying conditions. The Slytherins were already there and about twenty brooms were laid out in two rooms. The instructor, Madam Hooch, walked out onto the pitch a minute later and ordered everyone to stick their hand over their broom and say "Up!"

Beth's broom jumped into her hand at once, but it was one of the few to do so. Hermione had to say "up!" several times, because while she knew how to fly, she wasn't very comfortable with it. Neville's broom refused to move at all.

Finally everyone had a broom and Madam Hooch showed how to mount. Then she raised her whistle and said, "On my count, take off. Three - two - one -" Before her lips touched the whistle, Neville took off, nervous and afraid about being left behind.

"Come back, boy!" Madam Hooch shouted as Neville's broom flew higher. His face was pale and frightened. Without even thinking about it, Beth took off after Neville to rescue him. She soon reached him and just as he was about to fall off, she managed to grab his sleeve. She then somehow managed to get him on her broom in front of her and she flew to the ground.

"Are you all right?" demanded Madam Hooch, rushing over to them. Neville nodded and got shakily off the broom. Madam Hooch then turned to Beth. "I'm amazed that you were able to rescue him like that, Miss Potter-Black. Take ten points for Gryffindor. I shall speak to Professor McGonagall about this." Neville was then told to sit out the lesson and class resumed.

A Slytherin named Theodore Nott picked up the Remembrall, which had fallen out of Neville's pocket. Ron asked for it back, but Theodore just smiled nastily and said, "Hmm, maybe I'll leave it for Longbottom to find up in a tree."

Daphne Greengrass flew over and said, "Return it, Theodore. It's not yours, and you'll get in trouble if Madam Hooch hears of it."

"All right then," said Theodore. "Catch if catch can!" He tossed the Remembrall high into the air. Beth went diving after it as it fell and managed to catch it two feet above the ground.

The Gryffindors who were watching cheered, and Madam Hooch, who had seen Beth diving after the ball, said, "Very impressive, Miss Potter-Black. You have Seeker potential."

An hour after the class, Beth was called to see Professor McGonagall. "Madam Hooch informed me of what went on during flying class, Beth. She was very impressed and said that your talent has increased from the last time she saw you fly. In any case, Gryffindor needs a Seeker, and you are the best person suited to fill the position. I've just spoken to Oliver Wood, the captain of the Gryffindor team, and he'll try you out tomorrow evening."

"I'm going to be Gryffindor's new Seeker?" asked Beth, looking shocked. "But first-years aren't allowed to -"

"Actually, the rule is that first-years aren't allowed to bring a broom of their own," interrupted McGonagall. "There's no rule that says first-years can't be on the house teams. In any case, you will show Wood your skill and he will then make you Seeker. I will speak to Professor Dumbledore about bending the first-year rule regarding brooms for you. Do you have a decent broom?"

"Yes, I got a Nimbus Two Thousand from Sirius for my birthday," answered Beth.

"Good," said McGonagall, smiling. "Now, I want to hear that you're training hard, Beth. It's time that Gryffindor broke Slytherin's winning streak in Quidditch. Oh, and please don't spread it around that you're Seeker. You may go now."

"Thank you, Professor," replied Beth. "See you later."

At dinner, Beth told her friends about her being made Seeker and told them to keep it a secret. Fred and George turned up a few minutes later and congratulated Beth, adding that Wood told them and they were Beaters for the team. When the twins had left, Alicia Bell, Katie Spinnet, and Angelina Johnson, the Chasers, congratulated Beth at well. She thanked them and recalled seeing them at the study group. Two days ago, Alicia had helped her with her Charms homework.

On the way back from the study group that evening, Beth and her friends made a wrong turning. They reached a door that was locked. Ron pulled at the door. "Why is this locked?" he wondered. "I thought it was a shortcut to the common room."

"Move aside," ordered Hermione. "I'll take care of this. _Alohomora_!" The lock clicked and she opened the door. They went inside, but then froze. Neville let out a squeak of terror.

Hermione and Ron backed out of the room. Neville was completely frozen in fear and Beth had to drag him out. Once the door shut, Hermione locked it and they hurried away.

"I can't believe we ended up in the third-floor corridor!" exclaimed Beth. "How stupid were we?"

"Well, what is a three-headed dog doing in the castle?" demanded Ron. "It could have killed us!"

"At least that explains why the corridor is forbidden," said Hermione. "Did you guys see what it was standing on?"

"The floor?" asked Ron sarcastically. "I wasn't occupied with its feet, I was more worried about its heads and getting out of there."

"Yes, it was standing on the floor, but there was a trapdoor in the floor!" exclaimed Hermione impatiently.

Neville, who had finally recovered from his fright, said in a tiny voice, "Then the dog is guarding something."

"I think you're right, Neville," said Beth. "When Hermione and I went to Diagon Alley, we met Hagrid there. He was removing something from Gringotts for Dumbledore, and other than the bank, Hogwarts is the safest place to hide something. Maybe whatever was removed from Gringotts is being hidden here. And I read in the _Daily Prophet_ a couple of weeks ago that there was a break-in at Gringotts that occured the day I was in Diagon Alley, but nothing was taken since the vault had already been emptied. But if I'm right, then what object would Dumbledore have hidden here?"

"Beats me," said Ron, shrugging. "But I suppose it's something that's either really valuable or really dangerous."

"Or both," said Neville.

"Well, we can think about it tomorrow," said Hermione. "It's getting late, and we should go to bed soon."


	9. Chapter 9

On Friday evening, Beth showed her skill to Oliver Wood. He was jubilant by the end and said happily, "The Quidditch Cup is going to have our name on it this year." He was almost skipping as they headed back to the castle. Beth wrote to her parents informing them of the news and asked them to send her Nimbus Two Thousand.

On Monday, the broom was delivered during the arrival of the morning post. The accompanying note was from Sirius, Natalia, and Remus, who congratulated her. Sirius also told her to 'kick Slytherin's butt' at the first Quidditch match. That was followed by Remus writing, "Sirius! You can't tell Beth that! You have a nephew in Slytherin. Beth, don't listen to Sirius, though I do hope you help lead Gryffindor into victory."

Beth chuckled as she read the note. Luckily for her, Daniel wasn't on the Slytherin team, so she wouldn't have to play against her cousin. Julie was a reserve Chaser on the Hufflepuff team, however. There wasn't much chance that Beth would have to play against her, though, since there was another reserve Chaser and the Hufflepuff team rarely needed to use reserves.

Thereafter, Beth's time was taken up three evenings a week for Quidditch practice. With Hermione's help, she managed to get through her homework with some spare time to hang out with her friends or do some leisure reading.

By the time October arrived, Beth felt very comfortable with Hogwarts. She had gotten to know Daphne Greengrass, who like Daniel, was one of the few decent Slytherins. Daphne was mostly quiet, but as she got to know Beth and her friends, she opened up. Daphne rarely hung around the other Slytherins and outside of classes, she could be found most often in Draco's company.

October passed quickly. The study group was thriving, and worked very well. Interhouse relations were excellent, except with Slytherin, and even then, the four Slytherins that were part of the group got along well with the other students. Some students who had originally thought that all Slytherins were evil soon changed their views and realized that there were decent ones.

When Halloween arrived, the smell of pumpkin wafted through the castle when Beth woke up that morning. She donned a pair of earrings she had transfigured to look like bats and a charm bracelet with charms appropiate for the holiday (pumpkin, bat, black cat, ghost, and skeleton). Hermione complimented her at breakfast and then dug out a pair of clip-on earrings, transfigured them in the shape of pumpkins, and put them on.

In Charms that day, Professor Flitwick informed that they would finally be learning how to levitate objects. The class was very excited about this and got to work on the feathers that were handed out. Beth was partnered with Neville. After many attempts, Neville was able to levitate his father a few inches above the desk for about five seconds. Beth, on the other hand, couldn't get her feather to move at all until the end of class, where it floated several inches for about ten seconds. Hermione, who was the first student to do it successfully, was awarded ten points.

During the Halloween feast, Hermione left to use the bathroom. She had only been gone for about half a minute when Professor Quirrell burst in. He gasped, "Troll - in the dungeons - thought you should know." With that, he collapsed.

The entire Great Hall was in instant uproar, but Dumbledore quickly restored order. He gave orders for the prefects to escort students to the common rooms while the teachers dealt with the troll.

In the confusion, Susan and Draco drifted over. "How did a troll get in the school?" asked Susan.

"Who knows?" answered Ron, shrugging. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."

"Hey, where's Hermione?" asked Draco.

Beth responded, "She went to the bathroom just before Quirrell announced - oh no! Hermione doesn't know about the troll!"

"We have to find and warn her," said Neville, his face showing fear, but his voice determined.

Draco looked around. "All right, but as long as we don't get caught." Fortunately, everything was confused, so they were able to slip away to find Hermione. On the way, the five of them had to duck behind a large statue because they heard footsteps. It turned out to be Snape, and it looked as if he was heading for the third floor.

"Why isn't he with the other teachers?" asked Ron.

Beth shrugged. "Beats me. Wait, what if the troll was let in for a diversion?"

"A diversion?" asked Susan. "But why?"

"Something's being guarded at Hogwarts," explained Neville.

"Come _on_!" said Beth impatiently. "We have to get to Hermione now!"

They had almost reached the bathroom when a foul and disgusting smell met their nostrils. "Ugh!" exclaimed Beth, holding her nose.

A second later, the troll shuffled into sight and then entered a door. The door had a key in the lock and Draco suggested, "We could lock it in."

"Yeah," seconded Ron.

"No, you idiots!" exclaimed Susan. "That's the girl's bathroom!" She ran forward and a loud scream was heard.

The others quickly followed her and they saw that Hermione was crouched against the wall, eyes wide with fright. The very ugly troll towered over her, a club in its hand. Draco bent down and picked up a broken off pipe. "Distract it!" he yelled, throwing the pipe at the troll at the same time.

The troll didn't seem to be bothered by the pipe, but the shout attracted his notice and he slowly turned around. Ron threw a tile and shouted. The troll turned towards him. Neville looked very frightened, but he managed to throw a tap at it and yelled. As the troll shifted a third time, Neville ran to the other side. Beth and Susan ran around the troll and reached Hermione.

"Come on, Mia!" shouted Beth. She and Susan dragged Hermione to her feet and tried to get her moving, but she was frozen in fear. Susan shook her hard, and Beth took a small bottle of scents from her pocket and waved it under Hermione's nose. The combination of the two made Hermione snap out of it.

Beth was struck by an inspiration. "Stun it! Or put it under the Full-Body Bind! We've been practicing those lately!"

All of them pulled out their wands and pointed it at the troll. Draco, Beth, and Hermione yelled "_Stupefy_!", while Neville, Ron, and Susan shouted "_Petrificus Totalus_!" The combination of their spells caused the troll to drop its club and fall to the ground, knocked out.

The six stared at each other in silence for several seconds. Then the door opened and Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, and Quirrell came in. Quirrell took one look at the troll and quickly sat down on a toilet seat, one hand over his heart.

The other three professors had varying degrees of displeasure on their faces. "What are you six doing here?" she demanded. "Why aren't you all in your common rooms?"

"Um, Professor, it was my fault," said Hermione bravely. "I had gone to the bathroom, so I didn't know about the troll. The others came to find and warn me, but the troll showed up and we had no choice but to defend ourselves from it. The boys distracted it, and then Beth suggested we try to Stun it or put it under the Full-Body Bind."

The teachers didn't look angry after hearing the explanation. "I see," said Professor Flitwick. "So three students from Gryffindor and a student each from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff went to help a Gryffindor student."

"Good case of inter-house unity," said Professor Sprout approvingly. "What do you think, Minerva and Filius?"

"I agree," said Professor McGonagall, nodding. "It is commendable."

Professor Flitwick nodded as well. "This is good. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff are awarded twenty points each for being able to defeat a troll despite being first years, and another thirty points each for a show of house unity."

"Excellent," said Professor Sprout. "Well, the six of you can go now. Students are finishing up the feast in their respective common rooms."

The six students quickly left the bathroom. Once they had gotten away from the stink, they stopped and looked at each other. "Thanks for rescuing me from the troll," said Hermione quietly.

"We're your friends," said Neville. "It's the least we can do."

"Well, you don't have to question your not being brave enough to be in Gryffindor anymore, Neville," said Ron. "You were afraid of the troll, yet you worked up the courage to help us fight it."

Beth said, "I feel like we should all swear friendship with each other or something."

Draco brightened, because he hadn't made any friends so far, unless you counted those five and Daphne. He held out a hand and said, "I swear to be eternal friends with the rest of you." After a second of hesitation, the others also stuck out their hands and repeated what Draco said. A gold cord appeared around each of their wrists for a few seconds.

They looked at their wrists, then stared at each other, puzzled. Finally Susan said, "I think this means that we're close friends now." The others considered it, then decided what Susan said made sense. They then went to their respective common rooms. When the three houses discovered that they had won fifty points each, the six students were briefly popular.

After that, the six of them became a tight circle of friends that were practically inseperable. After all, there were some things you can't share without becoming very close friends, and facing a ten-foot tall mountain troll was one of them.

Author's Note: Several reviewers liked the idea of Susan being better friends with Beth, so I made it happen. I originally didn't plan for a group of six friends, but this fic is going on a direction on it's own. It just seemed right for Draco to become close friends with Beth and rest since he's redeemed himself and is the complete opposite from his personality in the books. And since the only way that Susan and Draco could end up being part of the group of friends was facing the troll, I included the troll scene. I hope the readers don't mind, and I changed how the troll was defeated from the way in the books because it made sense. With the six of them, they could Stun/petrify the troll and not require Ron to knock it out with its own club.


	10. Chapter 10

Draco and Susan were told about the three-headed dog and how it appeared to be guarding something, probably whatever Dumbledore had asked Hagrid to fetch from Gringotts. They were very curious about it, but as they didn't have any more information, they couldn't figure out what could be hidden at Hogwarts, other than that it was valuable, dangerous, or both.

The group of six decided that they needed a name to call themselves. After some discussion and five silly names that only five-year olds would use, they decided on the Junior Marauders. Even though they weren't going to get into the kind of stuff the Marauders did and only Beth was related to the old group, it was the only name they all liked. However, they did play one prank on Pansy and Tracey, which was turning their robes pink and yellow and having the words "dog-face" flash in green on the back of Pansy's robes and "hag' flash in red on the back of Tracey's. Everyone, even a number of Slytherins, got a good laugh about it, and the Weasley twins said that whomever had done the prank showed potential.

Professor Snape glanced at Beth as Pansy and Tracey ran out of the Great Hall. Beth was laughing along with the other students, but there was nothing about her that said she might have had anything to do with the prank. He sighed and looked away, because the last thing he wanted to do was pry in her mind to see if she had done it, even just the surface thoughts.

The first Quidditch arrived. Beth being Seeker was supposed to be a secret, but somehow the news leaked out. None of the members of the Gryffindor team had said anything, and neither had Beth's friends, so she guessed that someone must have seen her at a practice. Most of the people in the study group told her that they thought she would do brillantly, but a majority of Slytherins said they'd be running around under her with a mattress.

The day of the match, Beth felt butterflies in her stomach, but managed to eat some toast and drink a cup of milk. Her friends encouraged her, and the Gryffindor first-years surprised her with a banner made from a sheet that Ron's pet rat, Scabbers, had ruined. It read "Beth Potter-Black for president!" and Dean Thomas, who was good at art, had drawn a roaring lion chewing on a snake. Hermione had then done a charm so that the lion flashed different colors.

Natalia, Sirius, and Remus showed up to watch her play and sat with Professor Snape, Flitwick, Sprout and Sinstra. They waved to Beth as the Gryffindor team walked out to the pitch. Beth returned the wave and then waved to her friends, who were sitting together at the opposite side. Ron and Neville waved the large banner and Susan and Draco had on red rosettes. Wood and the Slytherins captain, Marcus Flint, shook hands and then the balls were released on Madam Hooch's whistle. The teams then took off into the air and game play started.

Lee Jordan, best friend of Fred and George, was the commentator. He was rather biased against Slytherin, and sometimes said things that didn't have much to do with the match, like how Angelina Johnson was rather attractive. Professor McGonagall sat next to him and had to yell at Lee or threaten to take away the megaphone every so often.

Gryffindor scored first. Beth did a few loop-de-loops to let off her feelings and then focused her attention back on looking for the Snitch. When she saw Hagrid join her friends, she waved to him.

The score was forty to twenty when Beth spotted the Snitch. She went streaking after it, and the Slytherin seeker, Terrence Higgs, followed her. Beth had almost reached the Snitch when Flint appeared and - WHAM! She spun off course, holding for dear life. Most of the crowd, other than the Slytherins, booed and Madam Hooch angrily called a foul. In the row in front of Ron, Dean shouted, "Send him off red, ref! Red card!"

Hermione leaned forward and said, "Dean, this is Quidditch, not football. People don't get sent off when they foul badly in Quidditch." She then explained what a red card was to her friends.

Alicia Spinnet took the penalty shot, but in the confusion, the Snitch was lost again. Lee Jordan had a hard time staying unbaised when he commented on what had happened and McGonagall shouted at him twice. Sirius was shouting over what happened and Natalia had to speak sharply to him before he stopped and settled for muttering angrily. Snape and Remus didn't looked pleased over what had happened, either, but they kept their mouths shut.

Beth continued the search for the Snitch and suddenly felt her broom jerk. She frowned, because it wasn't supposed to do that. Her broom jerked again and then bucked. She held on tightly to the handle, wondering what was wrong.

Draco focused his binoculars on Beth. "What's wrong with Beth's broom? Why's she bucking like that?"

"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked her?" Neville whispered.

"Can't have," Hagrid said, his voice shaking. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark Magic - no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."

At these words, Hermione seized Hagrid's binoculars, but instead of looking up at Beth, she started looking frantically at the crowd.

"What are you doing?" moaned Ron, grey-faced.

"I knew it," Hermione gasped. "Quirrell- look."

Ron grabbed the binoculars. Quirrell was in the middle of the stands opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on Beth and was muttering non-stop under his breath.

"He's doing something - jinxing the broom," said Hermione. "And in the row in front of him, Snape and Aunt Natalia are looking at Beth and muttering as well. I bet they're doing the countercurse, which is keeping Beth from falling off for now. But I don't know if it'll be enough." She bit her lip and frowned.

Susan got up. "I'll take care of Quirrell." She made her way to the opposite stands and got to the row behind Quirrell. When she reached him, she stumbled. As she fell, she knocked into Quirrell, causing him to lose eye-contact. "Oh, I'm sorry, Professor!" exclaimed Susan in a falsely concerned tone. She then hurried back to her seat, ignoring his muttered curses.

Beth, who had been about to swing off her broom, was able to control things again. After making sure that everything was all right again, Snape and Natalia stopped muttering the countercurse. Sirius and Remus let out sighs of relief.

Several minutes later, Beth saw the Snitch again and went after it. She reached it and stretched out her hand. Before her fingers could close on it, however, it flew into her right sleeve and fluttered against her arm. She hovered in place as she reached in her sleeve with her left hand and drew out the Snitch. She waved it triumphantly as Lee Jordan shouted out that Gryffindor had won, two hundred and thirty points to fifty.

After changing, Beth's friends, parents, and Remus, hugged and congratulated her. "You did excellently," said Natalia, smiling proudly. "If your birth parents were here, they'd be proud of you. But I'm sure they're proud of you up in Heaven."

"Thanks, Mum," replied Beth. "What was the matter with my broom?"

"Quirrell was jinxing it," said Susan flatly. "I went over and knocked into him though, so his eye-contact with you broke."

"So he was the one doing it," said Natalia, frowning. "The second I realized what happened, I began doing the countercurse. Severus was doing it as well. Otherwise you would have definitely been thrown off your broom, Beth."

"But why would Quirrell want to jinx my broom?" asked Beth.

"We don't know," answered Sirius. "But Severus is going to keep a close eye on him. And we'll speak to Dumbledore and McGonagall about this and they keep an eye out as well. Now, I'm sure Gryffindor is going to want to celebrate the victory, or you had better go, Beth. We'll see you later."

"Wait," said Beth. "Mum what was it you discovered that you said you'd tell me later? Mia said it might be because you're -"

"Bethany, why are so so curious to know?" asked Natalia.

Beth looked her adoptive mother over carefully and exclaimed, "Hermione was right! I am going to have a younger brother or sister. You know, Mum, those robes don't hide the fact that your waist is a little thicker. Since I doubt you've gained weight, the logical explation is that you're going to have a baby."

Natalia sighed. "All right, I am pregant. I'm due in early April. I also did the spell that tells me the gender."

Beth considered and decided that she did want to know the gender. "So what is it? A boy or girl?"

"Both," replied Sirius. "It's twins. Emilia and Owen have agreed to be godparents."

Hermione blinked. "My parents are going to be the godparents?"

"Yes," said Natalia. "Well, actually they're going to be godparents for the girl. Remus and Tonks will be godparents for the boy. Sirius and I agreed that the Junior Marauders can have the honor of naming them. So discuss some names among yourselves and send the ones you all agree on to us. Just don't pick names that are too odd, all right?"

"Okay," said Beth. The adults went to speak with Dumbledore and the Junior Marauders went inside. Instead of just a party for the Gryffindors, it was one for the study group, as many of the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs wanted to celebrate Gryffindor's victory. The study room was crowded with students, and the tables covered with refreshments that the Hogwarts house elves provided. Beth had a great deal of fun.

The Junior Marauders began spending their time outside of classes and the study group in the Room of Requirement. Sirius and Remus had told Beth and Hermione about the place, it was the one private place that most students didn't know about. They discussed names for the future twins and just hung out, relaxing and talking about things they couldn't really say in the study room without having to worry about someone overhearing or being disturbed. They also began looking for information on someone named Nicolas Flamel.

A couple of days after the match, the Junior Maruaders had gone to visit Hagrid. Beth had mentioned the three-headed dog and it turned out it was named Fluffy and belonged to Hagrid. It had been lent to Dumbledore to guard, and then Hagrid broke off, saying he couldn't tell them. Ron and Draco pressed the matter and Hagrid had gruffly said that it was none of their business and was a matter between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel. When Susan said, "Aha, so there's someone named Nicolas Flamel involved!", Hagrid had looked furious with himself for letting the name slip.

After that, the six had started looking for information on Flamel. They'd checked the library and the books in the study hall, but hadn't found anything. Of course, the library was very large, with tens of thousands of books, and they had no idea what Flamel could have done to become famous, so it was no help. It wasn't until two weeks before the Christmas break that Neville suggested they ask the Room of Requirement to provide them with books that would mention Flamel. They couldn't ask the Room to directly give them the information, as information was one of the Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration.

The room provided several books, two having to deal with alchemy. After looking through them, Hermione was the one to discover that Nicolas Flamel was an alchemist that had had created the Philsopher's Stone, a magical stone that could turn any metal into gold and produce an Elixir of Life that would make the drinker immortal. Ron also discovered that Dumbledore had done some alchemy work with Flamel.

In any case, it appeared that what was being guarded at Hogwarts was the Philosopher's Stone. They exchanged looks and Draco said, "You know, it might be Quirrell that's after the Stone. He was the one that reported the troll in the dungeons, after all, so he could have been the one to it in. The distraction would have enabled him to try to get past Fluffy. If Snape hadn't gone to the third-floor, Quirrell might have succeeded."

"But what does Snape -" began Ron. "Oh right, we saw him heading in that direction when we were on the way to get Hermione. But what if Snape has something to do with it? I mean, we never saw Quirrell head for the third floor."

"Snape doesn't have anything to do with it," said Beth firmly. "He's not interested in being immortal or rich. Well, he probably does want enough money so that he can stop teaching and do his own thing, but not in being fabulously rich."

"Quirrell seems to be the more likely candidate," said Hermione. "Especially considering what he did during that Quidditch match. He might even be working for Voldemort." The others, except for Beth, flinched. Hermione ignored it and continued, "Beth's scar hurt for a second at the beginning-of-term feat when she and Quirrell looked at each other. That has to mean something, though none of us nor Aunt Natalia and Uncle Sirius have any idea as what it is exactly."

"Okay, Quirrell's up to something," said Susan. "But Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall, and maybe the other heads of house, know about him and are keeping an eye on him. So we'll let them deal with this."

Ron and Draco hesitated, but in the end agreed with the others.

The Christmas holidays arrived and everyone went home for break. Ron and his brothers were spending it with the Blacks, because their parents were going to Romania to visit Charlie. Percy had been a bit reluctant at first, not wanting to intrude, but Beth had insisted and Natalia had sent a letter assuring him that he wasn't intruding at all.

Sirius and Remus met the Weasleys at Beth at King's Cross and drove them home. Natalia wasn't there. When you were almost six months pregnant with twins, you weren't exactly in a condition to be out much. During the car ride home, Sirius and Remus got to know the Weasleys better and Sirius gave some prank advice to Fred and George. When they arrived, Natalia met them and then the kids went upstairs. There were only two available guest rooms, since Remus was also staying over, and the twins took one and Ron and Percy the other. After everyone was settled in, Beth showed the Weasleys around and then everyone had dinner.


	11. Chapter 11

The next day, Beth and Ron went to Hermione's house. Fred and George remained at the Black home to talk with Sirius and Remus. Last evening, at dinner, the twins discovered that Sirius and Remus were the Marauders and had been over the moon about it. They explained that the Marauders were their idols and revealed that they had possession of the Marauder's Map, ever since their first year, when they'd snuck out out of Filch's office. Percy had been disapproving when he heard this, but since the Map wasn't dangerous, he had kept his mouth shut after his first protest.

The trio talked and then watched two movies. Ron was fascinated by the telly, VCR, and videos and asked several questions about them. The girls couldn't really explain how the telly and VCR worked, but they told Ron what they did know and he filed away the information to tell his father, who was obessed with everything Muggle, later.

That evening, letters arrived from Neville and Susan, who said they were accepting the invitation to the Boxing Day party Natalia and Sirius were hosting. A brief and curt note came from the Malfoys, saying that they weren't coming, especially to a party held by a 'blood traitor' and a 'mudblood'. Sirius had torn the note to tiny pieces and shouted for a full five minutes over his wife being called such a degrading name. He would have continued ranting longer if Remus and Natalia hadn't managed to calm him down.

A separate letter came him Draco. It read, "_Guys, I'm sorry I can't attend your party. I really wish I could. It'd be more fun than attending the Ministry party my father is dragging me to. I also apologize on behalf of my father, because I saw the refusal he wrote and know he called Mrs. Black-Harper the 'm' word. _

_Beth, I've taken your advice and told my father that the Sorting Hat saw that my intelligence took precedence over my ambition and cunning. He reluctantly accepted it, and was very pleased when I dropped hints that my views on Muggleborns and Muggles didn't change. I had to use the 'm' word, or else he'd get suspicious, and I felt disgusted when I did it. As soon as I got away from my father, I rinsed out my mouth, though it didn't make me feel any better about using such a bad word. _

_Is your house connected to the Floo Network? If it is, please send me the location. I'm not promising anything, but if I can manage it, I'll Floo over and spend an hour or two after Boxing Day. I'll also ask Dobby, the family house-elf, to deliver your presents on Christmas Eve. Don't be shocked by his appearance. My parents don't treat him nicely. I used to behave the same way, but ever since becoming friends with you, I realized that it was wrong. I'm nice to him now whenever my parents aren't around. I want to set him free so he won't have to deal with my parents anymore, but Dobby said that now that I'm nice to him, he's willing to stay for my sake. He also added that if he was gone, I wouldn't have anyone to talk to at home or deliver packages for me. Since he does have a point, I'm not going to go against my parents and set Dobby free, at least for now. Well, have a Merry Christmas and I'll write again. I might have Dobby deliver them, if my parents get suspicious by how I'm sending out my owl so much._

_Your friend, _

_Draco_"

Beth immediately wrote a reply, telling him that he had to say "Gryffin Aeyrie, Roselea Street" to get to her house and the current password was "Junior Marauders." Ron and Hermione added some things, mainly making Draco feel better about not being able to attend the party. In the postscript, Beth added that Sirius's house-elf, Kreacher, would be delivering their presents. If Draco wasn't in his room at the time, Kreacher had orders to leave the presents under the bed and then return.

On Christmas Eve, the Grangers came over. Mrs. Granger and Natalia spent the afternoon in the kitchen, cooking. The kids decorated a gingerbread castle that looked a great deal like Hogwarts and then watched "A Christmas Carol" on the telly.

An hour before dinner, a house-elf dressed in a filthy pillowcase appeared in the living room, carrying three presents. He bowed and said, "Dobby is bringing Master Draco's presents." They thanked Dobby and asked him to give Draco their thanks. When the house-elf left, Hermione expressed her horror at how he had been dressed. Beth reminded her that house-elves couldn't wear clothes unless they were set free, but did agree that Dobby shouldn't have to wear such a filthy pillowcase. After all, the Hogwarts house-elves had on clean tea towels draped neatly like togas. But then, Helga Hufflepuff had made Hogwarts a haven for house-elves and ensured that they would be treated well.

After enjoying a delicious dinner, everyone bundled up and went outside, singing Christmas carols throughout the neighborhood. They were joined by two of the families from the apartment building.

When an hour had passed, the caroling ended. The Grangers, Blacks, and Weasleys returned to the Black home and had hot chocolate and eggnog with biscuits. At ten o'clock, the Grangers returned home.

On Christmas morning, Beth woke up very early. Christmas and Easter were her favorite holidays, and not just due to the religious signifigance. Unfortunately, her mother would not be pleased at being roused at five-thirty, so Beth had to contain her excitement and wait. She read the book _A Christmas Carol_ until six-thirty, when she could no longer contain her excitement. She woke everyone up and then rushed downstairs. Only Ron and the twins were as excited as her and didn't mind being woken up early. Everyone gathered in the living room to open presents.

Beth opened her first present, which was from her mother. It contained a set of ruby dress robes, a gold chain necklace with a ruby dangling from it, a pair of ruby clip-on earrings, and a gold bracelet set with rubies. Next was Sirius's present, a box of prank items and an Invisibility Cloak that had belonged to Beth's father. Remus's present was two books, one on Defence and the other on useful jinxes and hexes. Hermione's present was the _Lord of the Rings_ trilogy and Ron's present was a box of chocolate frogs. Neville had sent a book on North American Quidditch teams and Susan's gift was a bottle of nail polish that would paint each of your nails in different color and a regular one that was sparkly red. Draco had sent a combination music and jewelry box. It was made of mahogany and silver plated and studded with jewels on the sides, with a design of roses on the lid. Fred and George had given her the Marauder's Map and a small box of trick sweets and Percy a quill pen. Mrs. Weasley had sent a Weasley sweater, knitted in a light green, and a box of fudge. Hagrid had sent a wooden flute that he had obviously whittled himself. Finally was the present from the Drs. Granger, a watch and a purse.

The Weasleys were surprised that Natalia and Sirius had given them presents and thanked them for the dress robes. Percy added his thanks for the book that would help him prepare for his OWLS, the twins for an old journal that the Marauders had written down their prank ideas, and Ron for the book _Flying with the Cannons_.

There was a round of thanks and Beth asked the twins why they'd given her the Marauder's Map. "Well, as you're the daughter of one Marauder, the adopted daughter of another, and almost goddaughter of a third, we felt you needed it more than us," explained George.

"Also, Sirius and Remus created a copy of it for us," added Fred. "So we're giving the original to you. We're sure the Junior Marauders will get plenty of use out of it."

After that, everyone went upstairs to put their gifts away, get dressed, and brush their teeths. Beth put all her jewelry in her new music/jewelry box and then got dressed in a red skirt and the new sweater.

After a delicious breakfast, everyone put on their coats and went to church to attend the Christmas service. When the service was over, Ron asked several questions pertaining to the birth of Jesus and God. There were witches and wizards who were religious, but the Weasleys weren't, so Ron was naturally curious. Percy asked a few questions also, but Fred and George weren't curious enough.

When they returned home, they had a light lunch, and then the kids spent the afternoon playing. At five o'clock was the large and excellent Christmas dinner. Beth stuffer herself with turkey, masked potatoes and gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and a medly of vegetables. That was followed by dessert, flaming plum pudding, a cake in the shape of a Christmas tree, and an apple pie.

When dinner was over, Sirius and Natalia cleaned the dishes and put them away by magic and then everyone went to the living room, feeling stuffed.

The next day was spent in readying the house for the party. In the afternoon, everyone showered and then got dressed. Beth put on her new dress robes and jewelry, then did her black hair in a twist and applied the red nail polish Susan gave her. She also put on some lip gloss, but didn't add any other cosmetics as her mother didn't let her wear them yet.

Beth then went downstairs with Ron, who was wearing the navy blue dress robes that Natalia had given him. A few minutes later, the Grangers arrived. Hermione was wearing pale blue dress robes and her normally bushy hair was now smooth and done in a French braid. She had painted her nails with the pink nail polish Susan gave her, and had on lip gloss and the sapphire on gold chain that Natalia gave her. She was very pretty and Ron stared at her for a minute before he managed to stammer, "M-Merry Christmas, Mia. You l-look lovely."

"Thank you, Ron," said Hermione, smiling. "You look nice yourself."

The fireplace flared up and Neville tumbled out a second later. His grandmother stepped out seconds later and helped him up. Neville was wearing dress robes of burgundy red. After he greeted Sirius and Natalia, he found his friends and hapily greeted them. The fireplace flared again and then Ted, Andromeda, and Nymphadora Tonks arrived. Beth greeted them and introduced them to Ron and Neville.

A few more guests arrived, among them Susan, her parents, and her aunt Amelia. Susan was wearing pale geen robes and her auburn hair was in a French braid like Hermione's. All the guests had arrived when the fireplace flared up one more time. The adults didn't notice, as they were talking to each other, but Susan did. She got the attention of her friends and pointed.

The mouths of the five Junior Marauders fell open in shock as the sixth member, Draco Malfoy, tumbled out of the fireplace. He was dressed in dark green dress robes. "What are you doing here?" demanded Hermione as Draco got up and brushed the soot off from his robes. "I thought you weren't coming, Draco."

Draco grinned. "True, but this morning I thought of a way that I could come. I pretended to have a headache and that I wasn't feeling well so my parents wouldn't take me to the Ministry party. They decided that I could stay home and rest and they left for the party, leaving Dobby to keep an eye on me. Once they were gone, I got dressed and came here. I can only stay until ten-thirty, though. My parents are going to be home from the Ministry party at eleven, and I don't want them to find out I'm not in bed. Mother is sure to check up on me to see if I'm feeling better. Dobby will come here to tell me when it's time to leave."

"Well, we're glad you're here," said Beth. "This party wouldn't be as wonderful without you. Come on, I'll introduce you to my parents. Sirius wants to meet his cousin that's different from the rest of the family."

"Cousin?" asked Ron. "You mean Sirius and Draco are related?"

Beth nodded. "Draco's mother was born a Black and is Sirius's cousin. Unlike Aunt Dromeda, she married into a respectable family and wasn't disowned. Mum, Sirius, this is Draco Malfoy."

Sirius and Natalia turned. "Hello, Draco," said Natalia. "I'm happy to see that you made it to the party after all."

"How did you make it here?" asked Sirius. When Draco explained, Sirius grinned and said, "I did the same thing when my parents declined an invitation the Christmas party the Potters were holding. I pretended to be sick to get out going to the party my aunt and uncle were having at the same time and then went to the Potter party."

Draco chatted for a few minutes and then went upstairs with his friends. Beth showed and did her best to explain the Muggle stuff and they watched a show on the telly. After that, they played some games and then went downstairs to the kitchen where the kids would be having supper. When dinner was over, the Junior Marauders played some games.

Dobby appeared at ten-thirty to take Draco home. Beth lent him some of her Muggle books and she and others bid him good-bye. Draco hugged his friends, thanked Beth for lending him the books, and then let Dobby take him home using the house-elves' form of Apparation.

Half an hour later, Neville, Susan, and Hermione had to leave, and half an hour after that, the remaining guests had all left as well. Beth went to bed, having enjoyed the party and happy that Draco had found a way to attend after all.


	12. Chapter 12

Draco was able to visit one more time. His family had been invited to have afternoon tea with a distant relative of his father's. As with the Ministry party, Draco had faked feeling unwell to avoid going. Once his parents had left, he had Flooed over to the Black home and spent two hours with his friends at Hermione's house. He would have stayed for three hours, but he was afraid that his parents might decide to come home early.

When the holidays ended, it was time to return to Hogwarts. Ron wanted to try out the Invisbility Cloak, but Beth reminded him that it wasn't big enough to cover all six of them. It could cover three at most, or maybe four if it consisted of the girls and Draco. (Ron being too tall and Neville wasn't as small as Draco.)

"Then that means all six of us can't ever sneak out together," said Draco. "Oh well, we're not planning to become exactly like the original Marauders, and anyway, that's less points we'd have to lose if we were caught wandering about."

"There's always the Disillusionment Charm," suggested Hermione. Then she turned red and looked horrifed. "I can't believe I actually just suggested that!" she gasped.

"We've corrupted you, Mia," said Susan jokingly.

"You're no longer the model student with a mania for following rules, Mia," added Neville. "Next thing we know, you'll be pulling pranks on Slytherins."

"Oh shut up, Nev," said Hermione. "I did take part in the prank on Pansy and Tracey, after all. I was the one who found the spell that flashed words on clothing and did it on those two."

"And you can take part in another prank against them," said Beth. "Sirius did give me those prank items for Christmas, and Tracey and Pansy were very rude to us on the train ride back to Hogwarts. I can't believe they called Draco a 'blood traitor'."

"They deserve it," said Ron. "But let's just limit our pranks to those two and anyone else that's really annoying or rude. And maybe as payback to Fred and George if they prank us. I don't feel comfortable pranking anyone else, because of the inter-house thing and how everyone's been getting along so well."

"Well, let's learn the Disillusionment Charm," said Susan. "Just in case all of us have a need to sneak around after curfew. You never know. And if it's spur of the moment, whomever planning this will let the others know with the notebooks Beth gave us for Christmas. It's a good thing you thought of getting us that, Beth."

Beth shrugged modestly. "Since we're in different houses, I thought it would be useful to have notebooks we could use to communicate with each other. The original Marauders used similar notebooks so they could send notes to each other during History of Magic and any other class that got boring and that's where I got the idea."

After a week, the Junior Marauders had mastered the Disillusionment Charm, though the strength of it depended on the size for Neville. Casting it on a person was weaker for him than if he cast it on a book. However, after another week of practice, he was on par with the others.

When the snow started melting, Quidditch practices resumed. Wood was something of a fanatic. While Beth agreed with the complaints of the Weasley twins, she also understood Wood's thinking. After all, if they won the match against Hufflepuff, Gryffindor would overtake Slytherin in the House Championship, and also be a strong contender for the Quidditch Cup.

After one practice in late March, Wood informed the team that Snape would be refereeing the next match. George, who had been pretending to fall off his broom, really did so at these words. "When was the last time Snape refereed a match?" he demanded. The other members of the team looked shocked and unhappy as well, except Beth. She knew the reason Snape was refereeing was to make sure Quirrell didn't try a repeat of Gryffindor's last match. She didn't say so, of course, for the others wouldn't believe her, and Snape's true loyalties weren't supposed to be made public.

After Wood had told everyone to be on their best behavior in the match so Snape wouldn't have an excuse to award penalties to Hufflepuffs, the team showered and changed. In the study room, Beth told her friends in a whisper about Snape refereeing.

"Why would he do that?" asked Draco. "Snape's not the type of person to referee Quidditch matches."

"He doesn't want a repeat of what happened in my first match, Drake," responded Beth, using the shortened name they had lately taken to calling Draco by. "You know, when Quirrell jinxed my broom?"

Susan shuddered. "Yeah, we definitely don't want a repeat. We'd better keep an eye on Quirrell as well."

"But what do we do if we catch Quirrell hexing Beth's broom again, Susie?" asked Ron.

"Distract him," replied Susan. "And don't call me Susie. I don't like that nickname. Sue is much better."

"Uncle Remus is going to be there, too," said Beth. "Mum and Sirius aren't becauseit's too close to the due date."

Neville looked puzzled for a moment, then understanding dawned on him. "Oh right! You're going to be a big sister soon."

"Oh, we haven't sent in the names for the babies!" exclaimed Hermione. She took out a sheet of parchment and continued, "So what first names did we agree on? Aunt Natalia and Uncle Sirius are picking out the middle names."

There was discussion and finally they narrowed down their choices to one boy's name and one girl's name. Hermione wrote down "Christopher" and "Katherine", added that it was their choice for the twins' names, and then Beth sent the note via Lily.

The day of the match finally arrived. Wood took Beth aside and told her to catch the Snitch before Snape could favor Hufflepuff too much. She nodded and promised to do her best.

"The stands are crowded," reported Fred, peering out. "Bilmey! Even Dumbledore's here to watch!"

Beth's heart gave a leap. If Dumbledore was there, than Quirrell wouldn't dare try anything. She followed the rest of the team outside, feeling relieved.

She took off when Madam Hooch blew her whistle and saw Remus wave. Beth returned the wave and then focused her attention on looking for the Snitch. A minute later, Snape had awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because one of the Weasley twins had hit a bludger towards him. Two minutes later, Snape was awarding Hufflepuff another penalty for no reason at all when Beth spotted a glint of gold. It was the Snitch. She went diving after it.

Snape turned aside on his broom just in time as something scarlet streaked past him. A few second later, Beth pulled out of the dive, her hand raised triumphantly. "I've caught the Snitch!" she yelled.

The stands were in uproar. Beth had to have set a record, for nobody could remember the Snitch being caught so quickly in Hogwarts history. After all, the match hadn't even lasted five minutes.

Wood hugged her and then she was mobbed by the Gryffindors. Even many of the Hufflepuffs were cheering, despite their losing the match, because of the whole inter-house unity.

Some time later, Beth left the changing rooms, having showered and donning her everyday clothes. She headed for the broom shed to put her broom away when she saw a cloaked figure head for the Forbidden Forest. It was Professor Snape.

She got on her broom and flew after him, taking care not to be seen. She soon came across a clearing. Quirrell was waiting there. She couldn't catch every word, but heard most of the conversation between Snape and Quirrell. It involved the Philosopher's Stone, and Snape was clearly asking Quirrell how much he knew. Since she knew that Snape was actually quite nice and on Dumbledore's side, she knew that he wasn't after the Stone. He was merely trying to find out how much Quirrell knew about the defences on it in order to counter it.

When Snape had left, Quirrell stood in the clearing for a few minutes, completely silent. Then he left as well. Once he was gone, Beth flew to the broomshed and put her Nimbus away. Her friends met her in the entrance hall and started to congratulate her, but stopped when they saw the look on her face. "What's the matter, Beth?" asked Neville.

"I overheard a conversation between Snape and Quirrell, Nev," answered Beth. She quickly told them everything she had heard.

"If I didn't know that Snape was one of the good guys," said Hermione, "I would think that he was after the Stone and was bullying Quirrell into giving information based on that conversation."

"Let's hope Quirrell never find out how to get past Fluffy," said Susan. "It's a good thing that Snape is keeping an eye on him. Anyway, let's go to the celebration party."

As they walked, Ron said, "Oh, Remus had to leave a few minutes after the match. He wanted to stay and congratulate you, but he got an urgent message from your parents, Beth. He didn't tell us what it was, but we think it might be that your mother's about to have the twins."

Beth stopped and stared at him. "Really? But it's a week early!"

"Twins sometimes arrive a bit early," pointed out Draco. "A cousin of mine had twins two years ago and they arrived two weeks early."

Beth nodded and the Junior Marauders continued on their way to the study room. They managed to have a good time, desipte their worry about Quirrell being after the Philsopher's Stone.

The next day, a very jubilant Sirius arrived. "You're a big sister!" he shouted the instant he spotted Beth. "Come on, I'm taking you to St. Mungo's so you can see the twins and your mother." He then turned to the rest of the Junior Marauders. "Katherine Natalia and Christopher Sirius Black are are perfectly healthy, happy, and good-looking. We're going to call them Kate and Chris for short. Great names that you came up for them, by the way. I'll send some pictures in a few days. Let's go, Beth."

Beth and Sirius Flooed to St. Mungo's and then went up to the Maternity Ward. Remus was there, along with the Drs. Granger, Aunt Dromeda, Uncle Ted, and Tonks. Mrs. Granger was holding Kate, while Remus was holding Chris. Natalia hugged Beth tightly and then introduced the twins to her.

"They're adorable, Mum," said Beth, looking down on her new adoptive siblings. She took Kate in her arms and sat down, cradling her sister. After a few minutes, she handed Kate to Aunt Dromeda and cradled Chris.

"Next Saturday we're having the baptism ceremony and officially naming the godparents," said Sirius. "You're coming, Beth, and your friends are all invited as well. I've arranged it with Dumbledore."

"Okay," said Beth. Chris woke up and began crying and she hastily handed him to her mother, who began nursing him. Chris stopped crying and Beth left the room, because she didn't really want to see the breast-feeding part. The males, except Sirius, left with her. After awhile, she returned to the room and talked with her mother, telling her all about yesterday's Quidditch match. Natalia smiled and congratulated her, adding that she was certain Beth had set a record.

When an hour had passed, Beth bid everyone good-bye and kissed her new brother and sister. She then Flooed back to Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore asked, "And how was the visit, Miss Potter-Black?"

"It was great, Professor Dumbledore," replied Beth, grinning. "Mum's fine, and I love Chris and Kate. They're adorable, even if all they can do now is eat, sleep, cry, and get their nappies messy. As long as Mum doesn't ask me to change their nappies and they don't keep me up all night with crying during the holidays, I'll continue to think of them as adorable."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Quite true. Well, you can go and tell your friends all about your new brother and sister."

Beth did just that. Hermione and Susan were just as enthralled as her. The boys were interested, but they weren't enthralled by it, and Draco commented that babies were fine, but not when they were crying all night long. That was one benefit of being an only child.

On Saturday was the baptism ceremony. Owen and Emilia Granger were named godparents to Kate, and Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks were named godparents to Chris. Tonks made a face when the vicar said her first name, but she didn't say anything. The twins cried when the water was splashed on their foreheads, but stopped a few seconds later.

When it was over, the Junior Marauders returned to Hogwarts and changed out of their dress robes.

The next week, Hermione started obsessing over exams. She had started drawing up revision timetables and colour-coding all her notes. The others wouldn't have minded, but she kept nagging them to do the same.

"Mia, the exams are ages away," said Draco.

"Ten weeks," Hermione snapped. "That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel."

"But we're not six hundred years old," Ron reminded her. "Anyway, what are you revising for, you already know it all."

"What am I revising for? Are you mad? You realise we need to pass these exams to get into second year? They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's got into me ..."

Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione. They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones. Also, the fifth and seventh year students were busy revising as well, for they had OWLs and NEWTs to take. They dominated the study room, so the Junior Marauders took to spending some of their study time in the library.

"I'll never remember this," Ron burst out one afternoon, throwing down his quill and looking longingly out of the library window. It was the first really fine day they'd had in months. The sky was clear, forget-me-not blue and there was a feeling in the air of summer coming.

Beth, who was looking up 'Dittany' in _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_, didn't look up until she heard Ron say, "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

Hagid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.

"Jus' lookin'," he said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once. "An' what're you lot up ter?"

"Revising for the exams," responded Susan with a sigh.

"Oh. I thought yeh migh' be still lookin' for Nicolas Flamel," said Hagrid.

"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," said Ron impressively. "And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Philosopher's St-"

"Shhhh!" Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," said Beth, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy -"

"SHHHH!" said Hagrid again. "Listen - come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've old yeh -"

"See you later, then," said Beth.

Hagrid shuffled off.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" asked Hermione thoughtfully.

"Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?" asked Neville.

"I'm going to see what section he was in," said Ron, who'd had enough of working.

He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down on the table.

"Dragons!" he whispered. "Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: _Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland_; _From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide_."

"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told Beth and me that on one of our visits to Hogwarts," said Hermione.

"But it's against our laws," said Ron. "Dragon-breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. It's hard to stop Muggles noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden - anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."

"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" asked Beth, frowning.

"Of course there are," said Ron. "Common Welsh Green and Hedridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our lot have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."

"So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" said Hermione.

"Knowing Hagrid, something that spells trouble," answered Draco darkly. "I wouldn't put it past him to have somehow gotten hold of a dragon or dragon egg."

They all groaned. "This is not good," said Neville. "If you turn out to be right, Drake, that is."

"I hope I'm not, Nev," said Draco, sighing. "But this is Hagrid, so we have to expect the worst."

Beth groaned again. Hagrid having a dragon wasn't good. Dragons in the wizarding world were nothing like the dragons in Muggle fiction. The dragons in the _Dragonriders of Pern_ series were telepathic, bonded with a human who would ride them, and chewed something called firestone so they could burn a dangerous parasite called Thread. Dragons in the _Pit Dragon_ trilogy either were trained to battle other dragons, made into pets, or turned into steaks. They also had some telepathic abilities, mostly by putting words into pictures. A real dragon, however, could not be tamed, like Ron said, and weren't that intelligent.

When they knocked on the door of the gamekeeper's hut an hour later, they saw that all the curtains were closed. The Junior Marauders exchanged worried looks, for it seemed that their worst fear might be true.

Hagrid called, "Who is it?" before he let them in and then shut the door quickly behind them.

It was stiflingly hot inside. Even though it was such a warm day, there was a blazing fire in the grate.

Hagrid made them tea and offered them stoat sandwiches, which they refused. "So - yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"

"Yes," said Beth. There was no point in beating about the bush. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Philosopher's Stone apart from Fluffy."

Hagrid frowned at him. "O' course I can't," he said. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn't tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts - I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know about Fluffy."

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here," said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice.

Hagrid's beard twitched and they could tell he was smiling. "We only wondered who had done the guarding, really," Hermione went on. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."

Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words. The others beamed at Hermione.

"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that ... let's see ... he borrowed Fluffy from me ... then some o' the teachers did enchantments ... Professor Sprout - Professor Flitwick - Professor McGonagall -" he ticked them off on his fingers. "Professor Quirrell - an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

The Junior Marauders exchanged looks again. If Quirrell had taken part in protecting the Stone, he could have found out how the other teachers had guarded it. The only thing he didn't know was how to get past Fluffy, though he might also not know how to get past whatever protection Dumbledore had set up.

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" asked Beth anxiously. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," said Hagrid proudly.

"Well, that's something," Beth muttered to the others. "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."

"Can't, Beth, sorry," said Hagrid. Beth noticed him glance at the fire. She and the others looked at it too.

"Hagrid - what's that?"  
But she already knew what it was. In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.

"Ah," said Hagrid, fiddling nervously with his beard. "That's - er ..."

"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" said Ron, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. "It must've cost you a fortune."

"Won it," said Hagrid. "Las' night. I was down in the villiage havin' a few drinks an' got into a game of cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" said Hermione.

"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'," said Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow. "Got this outta the library - _Dragon-Breeding for Pleasure and Profit_ - it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here - how ter recognise diff'rent eggs - what I got there's a Norwegian Ridegback. They're rare, them."

He looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione didn't. "Hagrid, you live in a wooden house," she said.

But Hagrid wasn't listening. He was humming merrily as he stoked the fire.

When they left, Susan said, "We need to convince Hagrid to give up the dragon."

"You're right, Sue," said Draco. "Once that thing hatches, it'll grow quickly. In a month's time, it'll probably be half the size of Hagrid's home. And Mia's right about his house being wooden. The dragon could burn it down if it decided to blow fire."

"But where would we send the dragon?" asked Beth.

Neville stared at Ron. "Your brother Charlie works with dragons, right?" he asked. Ron nodded and Neville continued, "Well, why can't we send the dragon to him? Charlie and the rest of the workers on the dragon preserve can take care of it."

"That's brillant, Nev!" exclaimed Ron. "I'll write to Charlie tonight and ask him."

A week later, Hagrid sent a note with the words, "_It's hatching_" written. After Herbology, the four Gryffindors and Susan found Draco and they went to visit the gameskeeper during break.

Hagrid greeted them looking flushed and excited.  
"It's nearly out." He ushered them inside.

The egg was lying on the table. There were deep cracks in it. Something was moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from it. They all drew their chairs up to the table and watched with bated breath.

All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open. Tha baby dragon flopped down on to the table. It wasn't exactly pretty; Beth thought it looked like a crumpled, black umbrella. Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body and it had a long snout with wide nostrils, stubs of horns and bulging, orange eyes.

It sneezed. a couple of sparks flew out of its snout.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmered. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs.

"Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!" said Hagrid.

Beth sighed. "Hagrid, are you really equipped to take care of a dragon?"

"And wouldn't he be better off with his own kind?" added Hermione. The girls then spent the next hour reasoning with Hagrid, with occasional input from Draco. Neville and Ron stayed quiet, for the former didn't know what to say to help talk Hagrid around and the latter wasn't always the most tactful of persons.

Finally Hagrid agreed that the dragon, whom he decided to name Norbert, would be happier with other dragons. He reluctantly allowed Norbert to be sent to Charlie, if he said yes.

The next evening, Charlie's reply arrived.

_Dear Ron,  
How are you? Thanks for the letter - I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they musn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon.  
Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark.  
Send me an answer as soon as possible.  
Love,  
Charlie_

They exchanged looks. "Well, I have my father's Invisbility Cloak," said Beth. "It shouldn't be too difficult - I think the Cloak's big enough to cover two of us and Norbert. And the Marauder's Map will let us know if a teacher's coming."

"The only problem is that nobody can carry Norbert and look at the Marauder's Map at the same time," pointed out Susan. "Which means someone is going to have to do the Disillusionment Charm and go along to use the Map."

After some discussion, it was decided that Beth and Neville would carry Norbert and Susan would use the Map.

When Saturday came, though, Susan couldn't go. She had been bitten when helping Hagrid feed Norbert the day before and had to go to the Hospital Wing, as the bite seemed poisonous. Draco immediately volunteered. In the end, it was decided that he and Hermione would both go. If all four of them were caught, they could claim to be out on a double date.

They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came for him to say goodbye to Norbert if they hadn't been so worried about what they had to do. It was a very dark, cloudy night and they were a bit late arriving at Hagrid's hut because they had to wait for Peeves to get out of their way in the Entrance Hall, where he'd been playing tennis against that wall.

Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate.  
"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," said Hagrid in a muffled voice. "An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."

From inside the crate came ripping noises that sounded to Beth as though the teddy was having his head torn off.

"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed, as Beth and Neville covered the crate with the Invisibility Cloak and stepped underneath it themselves. "Mummy will never forget you!"

Draco and Hermione were waiting for them in the Entrance Hall, but Beth and Neville didn't know until they spoke, because of the Disillusionment Charm. "All clear," said Hermione. "Let's go."

They managed to get to the Astronomy tower, though how, they didn't know. Once they arrived, Beth and Neville removed the Cloak and Hermione and Draco took off the Charm. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness.

Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. They showed the four kids the harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them. They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it and then the four shook hands with the others and thanked them very much.

At last, Norbert was going ... going ... gone.

They slipped back down the spiral staircase, their hearts as light as their hands, now that Norbert was off them. No more dragon - Malfoy in detention - what could spoil their happiness?

The answer to that was waiting for them at the foot of the stairs. As they stepped into the corridor, Filch's face loomed suddenly out of the darkness.

"Well, well, well," he whispered, "we are in trouble."

They'd left the Invisibility Cloak on top of the tower, forgot to do the Disillusionment Charm again, and forgot to check the Map. The four groaned. Beth silently cursed her stupidity.

Things couldn't have been worse.

Filch took them down to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor, where they sat and waited without saying a word to each other.

Professors McGonagall and Flitwick arrived several minutes later. McGonagall demanded to know why three Gryffindors and one Ravenclaw were out of beds at this hour.

"We were double dating," answered Draco hesitantly.

McGonagall raised a brow. "Considering that the four of you are first years, I find it hard to believe. In any case, I am very disguted with you. Four students out of bed in one night! That hasn't happened since your father and his friends graduated from Hogwarts, Miss Potter-Black!"

Flitwick shook his head. "Mr. Malfoy, how can you do this? Ravenclaws are normally rule-abiding. And I thought Ravenclaw meant more to you than this. You will receive a detention, and fifty points will be taken from Ravenclaw."

Draco gasped, but didn't say anything. The loss of points was not going to make him popular tomorrow when the other Ravenclaws found out what had happened. His only friends were in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, so none of the Ravenclaws would sympathise with him. His dormmates were friendly to him, but he would bet they'd stop talking to him.

"And the rest of you also receive detention and will have fifty points taken from Gryffindor," said McGonagall.

"Fifty?" Beth gasped - they would lose the lead, the lead she'd won in the last Quidditch match.

"Fifty points _each_," said Professor McGonagall, breathing heavily through her long pointed nose.

"Professor - please -" began Neville.

"You can't-"

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Miss Potter-Black. Now get back to bed, all of you. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students."

"And I of a Ravenclaw student," added Flitwick, frowning at Draco.

Draco looked completely miserable, but his friends had no words of comfort for they were feeling miserable as well. When they had to separate, Beth looked at Draco and said, "Ravenclaw only lost fifty points. Gryffindor lost one hundred and fifty. We're going to be hated more than you. Especially when in one night we lost Gryffindor's chance of winning the house cup."

He knew Beth was right, but it didn't make him feel any better. He hugged her, then the other two, and silently returned to the Ravenclaw common room, wishing for once that a password was needed to enter, not answering a question.

The next day was a disaster. It soon got out to the other Ravenclaws that Draco was the one that had lost the fifty points. His dormmates stopped speaking to him except when necessary, and the other Ravenclaws avoided him as well. It was nothing compared to what Beth, Neville, and Hermione were going through. The Gryffindors were furious with them, especially Beth, for losing all those points. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff turned on Beth as well, because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the House Cup.

Everywhere Beth went, people pointed and didn't trouble to lower their voices as they insulted her. Slytherins, on the other hand, clapped as she walked past them, whistling and cheering, "Thanks Bethany, we owe you one!" The only Slytherins that didn't act that way were the four in the study group, and even they were pleased that Slytherin was going to win. Only Beth's cousin, Daniel, didn't seem to be pleased, and with his sister Julie, cornered Beth one afternoon and asked how she and her friends could have lost so many points. When they found out it was because of Hagrid and Norbert, they said, "Well, why didn't you tell Aunt Natalia and Uncle Sirius about it? They could have gotten the dragon to Charlie Weasley without you and your friends being out in the corridors after curfew." They then patted her, told her that they weren't mad anymore, and left.

Ron and Susan were the only ones that stuck by their friends' sides and did their best to comfort them. As most of the school were mad at four members of the Junior Marauders, the group had taken to revising in the Room of Requirement rather than in the study room.

Beth was almost glad that the exams weren't far away. All the revision she had to do kept her mind off her misery. The Junior Marauders kept to themselves, working late into the night, trying to remember the ingredients in complicated potions, learn charms and spells off by heart, memorise the dates of magical discoveries and goblin rebellions ...

A week before the exams were due to start, Beth, Hermione, Neville, and Draco were given notes at breakfast telling them to report for their detention that night at eleven.

Filch met them in the Entrance Hall and took them to Hagrid's hut, talking about the old punishments at the same time.

Hagrid called, "Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started."

Beth's heart rose; if they were going to be working with Hagrid it wouldn't be so bad. Her relief mush have shown on her face, because Filch said, "I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, girl - it's into the Forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."

At this, Neville let out a little moan and the others exchanged horrified looks.

"The forest?" Draco repeated. "We can't go in there at night - there's all sorts of things there - werewolves, I heard."

Neville clutched the sleeve of Beth's robe and made a choking noise.  
"That's your lookout, isn't it?" said Filch, his voice cracking with glee. "Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?"

Hagrid came striding towards them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.

"Abou' time," he said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, you four?"

"I shoildn't be too friendly with them, Hagrid," said Filch coldly, "they are here to be punished, after all."

"That's why yer late, is it?" said Hagrid, frowning at Filch. "Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."

"I'll be back at down," said Filch, "for what's left of them," he added nastily, and he turned and started back towards the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.

Beth turned to Malfoy. "First of all, it's not a full moon, so if there are werewolves in the Forest, they wouldn't be able to bite us and turn us into werewolves. Second of all, werewolves aren't all bad. My father was friends with one and when it isn't a full moon, he's as harmless as a - a - a powder puff."

"Right then," said Hagrid, "now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment.

He led them to the very edge of the Forest. Holding his lamp up high he pointed down a long narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees. A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the Forest.

"Look there," said Hagrid, "see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood.

There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."

"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" asked Draco, his voice trembling with fear.

"There's nothin' that lives in the Forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang," said Hagrid. "An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. there's blood all over the place, it must've been staggerin' around since last night at least.

"So me, Neville an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Beth an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practise now - that's it - an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh - so, be careful - let's go."

The forest was black and silent. A little way into it they reached a fork in the earth path and Neville, Hermione and Hagrid took the left path while Beth, Draco, and Fang took the right.

They walked in silence, their eyes on the ground. Draco and Beth held hands tightly, partly for comfort and partly so that they wouldn't get separated from each other.They walked for nearly an hour, deeper and deeper into the Forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick.

Beth thought the blood seemed to be getting thicker. There were splashes on the roots of a tree as though the poor creature had been thrashing around in pain close by. She could see a clearing ahead, through the tangled branches of an ancient oak.

"Look -" she murmered, holding out her arm to stop Malfoy.

Something bright white was gleaming on the ground. They inched closer.

It was a unicorn all right, and it was dead.

Beth had never seen anything so beautiful and sad. Its long slender legs were stuck out at odd angles where it had fallen and its mane was spread pearly white on the dark leaves.

Beth had taken one step towards it when a slithering sound made her freeze where she stood. A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered ...

Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast. Beth, Draco, and Fang stood transfixed. The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, it lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood.

Draco let out a scream just as Fang bolted. Beth stood transfixed in fear, her scar feeling as though it was on fire. Then she felt a jerk as Draco ran, dragging her behind him. After several seconds, she got a hold of herself and began running also.

Finally they reached Hagrid and Draco gasped out what had happened. Hagrid went to deal with the unicorn and the four students decided that the cloaked figure drinking unicorn blood could be Voldemort. After all, unicorn blood would keep you alive, but give you a cursed life. As Voldemort wasn't dead, only powerless, it stood to reason that he was responsible, and no doubt he could care less about the cursed life, especially if it was a temporary measure. That led to them deciding that Voldemort was after the Stone and Quirrell was just the servant, doing the Dark Lord's bidding.

When they finally returned to the castle, Draco said he would tell Susan what had happened via the notebook. Beth, Neville, and Hermione woke up Ron, who had fallen asleep while waiting for them to return. They told him what had gone on in the Forbidden Forest and the theory that Voldemort was the one after the Stone and Quirrell just the servant.

The sky had turned light before they stopped talking. they went to bed exhausted, their throats sore. But the night's surprises weren't over.

When Beth pulled back her sheets, she found her Invisibility Cloak folded neatly underneath them. There was a note pinned to it:

_Just in case_.

Author's Note: Beth's twin siblings are named after my cousins. They're brother and sister, but not twins. Christopher is usually called Chris, but Katherine doesn't shorten her name normally, though occasionally she has used Kathy. However, I don't feel like writing out "Katherine" all the time, and since I shortened Christopher's name, I decided to the same with Katherine and make it Kate so it would be one syllable like Chris.


	13. Chapter 13

In years to come, Beth would never quite remember how she had managed to get through her exams when she half expected Voldemort to come bursting through the door at an moment. Yet the days crept by and there could be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door.

It was swelteringly hot, especially in the large classroom where they did their written exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell.

They had practical exams as well. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuff-box - points were given for how pretty the snuff-box was, but taken away if it had whiskers. Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness Potion.

Beth did the best she could, trying to ignore the stabbing pains in her forehead which had been bothering her ever since his trip into the Forest. Lavender and Parvati thought Beth had a bad case of exam nerves because she couldn't sleep, but the truth was that she kept being woken by her old nightmare, except that it was now worse than ever because there was a hooded figure dripping blood in it.

Maybe it was because they hadn't seen what Beth had seen in the Forest, or because they didn't have scars burning on their foreheads, but the rest of the Junior Marauders didn't seem as worried about the Stone as she did. The idea of Voldemort certainly scared them, but he didn't keep visiting them in dreams, and they were so busy with their revision they didn't have much time to fret about what Quirrell or anyone else might be up to.

Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came out.

When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Beth couldn't help cheering with the rest.

"That was far easier than I thought it would be," said Hermione, as they joined the crowds flocking out into the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learnt about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."  
Hermione always liked to go through their exam papers afterwards, but Ron said this made him feel ill, so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree.

The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows.  
"No more revision," Ron sighed happily, stretching out on the grass. "You could look more cheerful, Beth, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."

Beth was rubbing her forehead.  
"I wish I knew what this means!" she burst out angrily. "My scar keeps hurting - it's happened before, but never as often as this."

"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Hermione suggested.

"I'm not ill," said Beth. "I think it's a warning ... it means danger's coming ..."

Ron couldn't get worked up, it was too hot. "Beth, relax, Mia's right, the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof Quirrell found out how to get past Fluffy. And Neville will play Quidditch for England, no offense, Nev, before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."

Beth nodded, but she couldn't shake off a lurking feeling that there was something she'd forgotten to do, something important.

When she tried to explain this, Hermione said, "That's just the exams. I woke up last night and was halfway through my Transfiguration notes before I realised we'd done that one."

Beth was quite sure the unsettled feeling didn't have anything to do with work, though. She watched an owl flutter towards the school across the bright blue sky, a note clamped in its mouth. She recalled the last note Hagrid had sent, which had been regarding Norbert's hatching. Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore. Hagrid would never tell anyone how to get past Fluffy ... never ... but - Beth suddenly jumped to her feet.

"Where're you going?" said Ron sleepily.

"I've just thought of something," said Beth. She had gone white. "We've got to go and see Hagrid, now."

"Why?" panted Hermione, hurrying to keep up.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd," said Harry, scrambling up the grassy slope, "that what Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in his pocket? How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?"

"What are you on about?" said Ron, but Beth, sprinting across the grounds towards the forest, didn't answer. Draco had realized what Beth did, though, and his face was paler than usual.

Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.

"Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"

"Yes, please," said Ron, but Beth cut across him.

"No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"

"Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn't take his cloak off." He saw the three of them look stunned and raised his eyebrows. "It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head - that's the pub down in the villiage. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."

Beth sank down next to the bowl of peas. "What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"

"Mighta come up," said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember. "Yeah ... he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here ... he asked a bit about the sorta creatures I look after ... so I told him ... an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon ... an' then ... I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks ... Let's see ... yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted ... but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home ... so I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy ..."

"And did he - did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Beth asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Well - yeah - how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep -"

Hagrid suddenly looked horrified.

"I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it! Hey - where're yeh goin'?"

When they reached the Entrance Hall, they decided that they had to tell Dumbledore, but then realized that they had no idea where his office was. They looked around and were about to ask a portrait when they heard a voice.

"What are you six doing inside?" It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.

"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Hermione.

"See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated, as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do. "Why?"

Beth swallowed - now what?  
"It's sort of secret," she said, but she wished at once she hadn't, because Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared.

"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," she said coldly. "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."

"He's gone?" said Beth frantically. "Now?"

"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Miss Potter-Black, he has many demands on his time -"

"But this is important."

"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Miss Potter-Black?"

"Look," said Beth, throwing caution to the winds, "Professor - it's about the Philosopher's Stone -"

Whatever Professor McGonagall had expected, it wasn't that. The books she was carrying tumbled out of her arms but she didn't pick them up. "How do you know -?" she spluttered.

"Professor, I think - I know - that Qu - that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."

She eyed him with a mixture of shock and suspicion.  
"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said finally. "I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected. And the other professors are keeping an eye on Quirrell."

"But Professor -"

"Miss Potter-Black, I know what I'm talking about," she said shortly. She bent down and gathered up the fallen books. "I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."

But they didn't. "It's tonight," said Beth, once she was sure Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. "Quirrell's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out everything he needs and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note, I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up."

"Let's discuss this in the Room of Requirement," said Susan quietly. They went up to the Room and sat down on the chairs provided.

"What do we do now?" asked Neville. "Dumbledore's gone, and McGonagall doesn't believe us."

"Quirrell needs to be stopped somehow," said Draco firmly. "I don't want You-Know-Who returning to power."

Beth stood up. "I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."

The others stared at her. "Are you trying to get yourself expelled, Beth?" asked Susan.

"No, I'm not, Sue," responded Beth. "Drake's right, Quirrell needs to stopped and I'm going to do it."

"You're mad!" exclaimed Ron and Neville simultaneously.

"You can't!" cried Hermione. "You'll be expelled, Bethany!"

"SO WHAT?" Beth shouted. "Don't you understand? If Quirrell gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn't matter any more, can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the House Cup? If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I'll have to go back home and wait for Voldemort to find me there. It's only dying a bit later than I would have done, because I'm never going over to the Dark Side! I'm going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you guys say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?"

There was a silence for several seconds. Then Draco stood up. "You're right, Beth. And I'm going with you." As she stared at him the others stood up as well.

"We're coming, too," said Neville, his face set and determined.

"We're not letting you do this alone," said Hermione. "You need all the help you can get."

"But - but - what if you guys get expelled as well?" asked Beth.

"That doesn't matter, Beth," said Ron. "We don't want You-Know-Who coming back into power."

"And what kind of friends would we be if we didn't go with you, Beth?" asked Susan. "Remember we've all sworn friendship with each other and made that gold cord appear around our wrists, confirming it."

Beth opened her mouth, then shut it again as she realized that it was useless to try to talk her friends out of it. She gave them a grateful look and hugged them.

That evening, Beth, Hermione, and Neville got under the Invisibility Cloak while Ron cast the Disillusionment Charm on himself. Beth was holding the flute Hagrid had given her for Christmas, because she didn't feel up to singing. When they reached the third floor corridor, they found that Draco was already there. Susan turned up a few minutes later. They went inside.

As the door creaked, low, rumbling growls met their ears. All three of the dog's noses sniffed madly in their direction, even though it couldn't see them.

"What's that at its feet?" Hermione whispered.

"Looks like a harp," said Ron. "Quirrell must have left it there."

"It must wake up the moment you stop playing," said Beth. "Well, here goes ..."

She put Hagrid's flute to his lips and blew. It wasn't really a tune, but from the first note the beast's eyes began to droop. Beth hardly drew breath. Slowly, the dog's growls ceased - it tottered on its paws and fell on its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep.

"Keep playing," Neville warned Beth as they slipped out of the Cloak and crept towards the trapdoor. They could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath as they approached the giant heads. Ron, Draco, and Susan removed the Disillusionment Charms on them.

"I think we'll be able to pull the door open," said Ron, peering over the dog's back. "Want to go first, Hermione?"

"No, I don't!"

"All right." Ron gritted his teeth and stepped carefully over the dog's legs. He bent and pulled the ring of the trapdoor, which swung up and open.

"What can you see?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"Nothing - just black - there's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop."

Beth, who was still playing the flute, waved at Ron to get his attention and pointed at herself.

"You want to go first? Are you sure?" said Ron. "I don't know how deep this thing goes. Give the flute to Hermione so she can keep him asleep."

Beth handed the flute over. In the few seconds' silence, the dog growled at twitched, but the moment Hermione began to play, it fell back into its deep sleep.

Beth climbed over it and looked down through the trapdoor. There was no sign of the bottom.  
She lowered himself through the hole until she was hanging on by his fingertips. Then she looked up at Ron and said, "If anything happens to me, don't follow. Go straight to the owelry and send Lily to Dumbledore, right?"

"Right," said Ron.

"See you in a minute, I hope ..."

And Beth let go. Cold, damp air rushed past her as she fell down, down, down and - FLUMP.

With a funny sort of thump she landed on something soft.

She sat up and felt around, her eyes not used to the gloom. It felt as though she was sitting on some sort of plant.  
"It's OK!" she called up to the light the size of a postage stamp which was the open trapdoor. "It's a soft landing, you can jump!"

Ron followed straight away. He landed sprawled next to Beth. "What's this stuff?" were his first words.

"Dunno, sort of plant thing. I suppose it's here to break the fall. Come on, guys!"

Susan jumped, followed by Draco and Neville. The distant music then stopped. There was a loud bark from the dog, but Hermione had already jumped. She landed on Neville's other side.

"We must be miles under the school," she said.

"Lucky this plant thing's here, really," said Ron.

"Lucky!" shrieked Hermione. "Look at you both!"

She leapt up and struggled towards a damp wall. She had to struggle because the moment she had landed, the plant had started to twist snake-like tendrils around her ankles. Neville and Draco struggled for the wall as well. As for Beth, Susan, and Ron, their legs had already been bound tightly in long creepers without their noticing.

Hermione, Draco, and Neville had managed to free themselves before the plant got a firm grip on them. Now they watched in horror as the other three fought to pull the plant off them, but the more they strained against it, the tighter and faster the plant wound round them.

"Stop moving!" Neville ordered them. "I know what this is - it's Devil's Snare!"

"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help," snarled Ron, leaning back, trying to stop the plant curling around his neck.

"Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" exclaimed Neville.

"Well, hurry up, I can't breathe!" gasped Beth, wrestling with it as it curled around her chest.

"Light a fire!" exclaimed Neville. "Because it likes the dark and damp!"

"Hermione, you're the best one making fires," shouted Draco. "So make one!"

"Yes - of course - but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands.

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"

"Oh, right!" said Hermione, and she whipped out her wand, waved it, muttered something and sent a jet of bluebell flames at the plant.

In a matter of seconds, the three felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unravelled itself from their bodies and they were able to pull free.

"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Neville," said Beth as she joined the others by the wall, wiping sweat off her face.

"Yeah," said Ron, "and lucky some of us don't lose their heads in a crisis - 'there's no wood', honestly."

"This way," said Beth, pointing down a stone passageway which was the only way on.

All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The passageway sloped downwards and Beth was reminded of Gringotts.

With an unpleasant jolt of the heart, she remembered the dragons said to be guarding vaults in the wizards' bank. If they met a dragon, a fully grown dragon - Norbert had been enough ...

"Can you hear something?" Ron whispered.

They all listened. A soft rushing and clinking seemed to be coming from up ahead.

"Do you think it's a ghost?" asked Susan.

"I don't know ... sounds like wings to me," answered Beth,

"There's a light ahead - I can see something moving." said Hermione.

They reached the end of the passageway and saw before them a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy, wooden door.

When they reached the door, they found it wouldn't open, not even with an _Alohomora_. Then Beth looked up and realized that it wasn't birds, but actually winged keys. Some broomsticks were against the wall and Beth, Ron, Draco, and Susan grabbed one each and took off. Neville and Hermione remained on the ground because they weren't good at flying.

Finally Ron, Susan, and Draco managed to drive the correct key towards Beth. She pinned it against the wall. The other's cheers echoed around the high chamber. They landed quickly and Beth ran to the door, the key struggling in his hand. She rammed it into the lock and turned - it worked.

The moment the lock had clicked open, the key took flight again, looking very battered now that it had been caught twice.

The next chamber contained a huge chessboard, with giant chess figures. They had to play their way across. As Ron was the best chess player among them, he took charge. Beth and Draco were told to take the place of the queen and king, Neville was a bishop, Hermione a castle, and Ron a knight. Ron then started directing the pieces after white had made its move.

Finally Ron realized that to win the game, he had to allow himself to be taken. They all protested, but Ron just said it was the only way and it was more important that they got to Quirrell and stopped him. There was nothing else for it.

"Ready?" Ron called, his face pale but determined. "Here I go - now, don't hang around once you've won."

He stepped forward and the white queen pounced. She struck Ron hard around the head with her stone arm and he crashed to the floor-

Hermione screamed but stayed on her square - the white queen dragged Ron to one side. He looked as if he'd been knocked out. Shaking, Neville moved three spaces to the left.  
The white king took off his crown and threw it at Neville's feet. They had won.

The chessmen parted and bowed, leaving the door ahead clear. Susan elected to stay behind to tend to Ron and the others charged through the door and up the next passageway.

The next room held a troll that was even larger than the one they faced on Halloween. It was out cold, with a bloody bump on its head.

"I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one," Beth whispered, as they stepped carefully over one of its massive legs. "Come on, I can't breathe."

She pulled open the next door, the four of them hardly daring to look at what came next - but there was nothing very frightening in here, just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line.

"Snape's," said Beth. "What do we have to do?"

They stepped over the threshold and immediately a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn't ordinary fire either; it was purple. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onwards. They were trapped.

"Look!" Hermione seized a roll of paper lying next to the bottles. The others looked over her shoulder to read it:

_Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,  
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,  
One among us seven will let you move ahead,  
Another will transport the drinker back instead,  
Two of our number hold only nettled wine,  
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.  
Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore,  
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:  
First, however slyly the poison tried to hide  
You will always find some on nettles wine's left side;  
Second, different are those who stand at either end,  
But if you would move onwards, neither is your friend;  
Third, as you see clearly, are all different size,  
Neither dwarf or giant holds death in their insides;  
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right  
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight._

Neville looked puzzled by this, so the other three set to working out the puzzled. They read through the paper several times to make sure they understood everything and then examined the bottles. Hermione figured out that the smallest bottle would allow you to go forward, while Draco and Beth figured out the rounded bottle at the end of the line would allow you to go back. As the bottle to go forward only contained enough for one person, Beth would have to go one alone.

"Will you be all right?" asked Hermione, tears brimming in her eyes, but not falling. She hugged Beth tightly.

"Yes, Mia," said Beth. "I faced Moldy Voldy once before and survived, so maybe I'll be lucky and survive again."

"Don't do anything foolish and get yourself killed, Beth." said Draco fiercely. "Or I'll kill you myself." He hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.

"You're the best friend ever," said Neville. "Well, along with the rest of the Junior Marauders. Anyway, take care, Beth." He hugged her.

"Good luck, Beth," said Hermione. She took a drink from the round bottle at the end. Draco and Neville then drank as well and the three clasped Beth's hand briefly before stepping through the purple fire.

Beth drank from the smallest bottle and then stepped through the black fire. She wasn't surprised to find Quirrell there, examining a mirror.

"You!" she shouted. "How dare you! _Expelliarmus_"

Quirrell turned and then fell backward as he was disarmed. Beth, a furious look on her face, snapped his wand in two so he couldn't use it. "You are not going to get the Stone so you can present it to Moldy Voldy and return him to power."

Quirrell got up, looking angry. "You wretched girl! How dare you break my wand!" He raised his hands to do some wandless magic, but Beth was quicker.

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" Quirrell froze and fell to the ground, having been hit with the Full-Body Bind.

Beth strode forward and looked down at Quirrell. On a sudden whim, she undid the turban and barely managed to keep from screaming when she saw that Voldemort was on the back on Quirrell's head. She took a step back and wondered what to do. Somehow she had managed to be quicker than Quirrell and had stopped him, but there was Voldemort to consider. Her scar flared with pain, distracting her from thinking.

A noise startled her and she whirled around. However, she stumbled and fell, one hand landing on Quirrell's hand. A scream rent the silence, proving that Quirrell had managed to break free of the spell. Beth stared in shock as his hands started blistering as if burned. She quickly removed her hand, but then realized that something about her had caused him to be unable to touch her bare flesh without feeling great pain.

"KILL HER!" shouted Voldemort as Quirrell sat up and stared at his blistered hand.

"I don't have a wand!" protested Quirrell as he got up.

"DO SOMETHING!" yelled Voldemort angrily. Beth reached out and grabbed Quirrell's face, despite the pain it was causing to her scar. He screamed, but she held on desperately. Eventually she blacked out.

When she came to, she saw that Sirius and Natalia were bending anxiously over her. "Mum! Sirius! What are you doing here?"

"Tending to you," replied Natalia. "Dumbledore notified us as to what happened and we came here right away. You scared us."

"What happened to Quirrell?" asked Beth.

"Dead," answered Sirius. "The theory is that when your mother died to protect you, she left a protectionon you that prevented Voldemort from touching you without being hurt. Since Voldemort was possessing Quirrell, Quirrell got the brunt of it."

"Oh," said Beth. "Mum, where are the twins?"

"At home, with Remus taking care for them. And Dromeda and the Grangers helping when they're not busy with work. Tonks volunteered too, but her mother told her not to help, since she's so clumsy and might accidentally drop Chris or Kate."

"Are my friends all right?"

"Yes," responded Sirius. "They're all fine, including Ron."

Beth sat up and looked around. She was in the Hospital Wing, and the table next to her was piled with sweets.

"Some of them are from us," said Natalia, smiling. "And the rest are from your admirers. What happened down in the dungeons between you and Quirrell is a complete secret, so naturally the entire school knows."

"Fred and George were the ones responsible for trying to send you a toilet seat," said Sirius. "But Madam Pomfrey thought it wouldn't be hygenic and confiscated it."

Beth chuckled weakly. "How long have I been here?"

"Three days," said Natalia. "You missed the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw. Since Gryffindor didn't have a reserve Seeker, they lost. Draco is happy with the win, naturally, though Slytherin ended up winning the Quidditch Cup."

"What about the Stone? Where was it?"

"I can answer that," said Dumbledore, coming in. "The Stone was hidden in the Mirror of Erised. Only someone who wanted to find it, but not use it, could get it out. In any case, since it doesn't seem to be safe at Hogwarts either, it will be destroyed."

"But what about your mentor Nicolas Flamel?" asked Beth. "Won't he and his wife die?"

"Yes, but I had a chat with Nicolas and he feels it's for the best. He and his wife have enough Elixir to set their affairs in order and then they will die. Oh, and Beth, I would like to apologize to you. I had not expected that you and your friends would end up in such danger. If I had, then I would have done things differently."

"It's all right," said Beth. "I must have inherited my father's penchant for attracting trouble."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Prehaps. In any case, I'm sure your friends would like to visit you, so I shall take my leave."

When the rest of the Junior Marauders turned up, Natalia and Sirius slipped out the room. Beth told them exactly what had happened when facing Quirrell. Susan and Hermione stifled screams when they heard that Voldemort had been on the back of Quirrell's head. They were all relieved to hear that the Stone was being taken care of, though relief turned to shock when they found out that it would mean the deaths of Nicolas and Prenelle Flamel.

The next day, Hagrid came to visit Beth and burst into tears, crying about how he had been the one to reveal how Fluffy could be tamed. Beth managed to calm him down and once he recovered, he gave her a present, which was a set of wooden book ends, carved in the shape of dragons. She thanked him sincerely.

That evening, Beth left the Hospital Wing for the feast. Madam Pomfrey had insisted on giving her one last check-up, so the Great Hall was already full.

When Beth walked in there was a sudden hush and then everybody started talking loudly at once. She slipped into a seat between Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table and tried to ignore the fact that people were standing up to look at her.

Fortunately, Dumbledore arrived moments later. The babble died away.

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are a little fuller than they were ... you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before the next year starts ...

"Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs awarding and the points stand thus: in third place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and sixteen points; tied for second, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw have four hundred and twenty-six points each, and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."

A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table. Beth could see Theodore Nott banging his goblet on the table. It was a sickening sight.

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little.  
"Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes ... First, to Miss Susan Bones, I award Hufflepuff house fifty points for her loyalty in helping her friends and demonstrating her courage and bravery."

The Hufflepuff table was in an uproar, for with the points just awarded, they had beaten Slytherin by four points and won the House Cup. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw joined in the applause and cheers because Slytherin's winning streak of six years was broken. However, Dumbledore raised his hand, stopping the cheers.

"Second, to Mr. Draco Malfoy, I award Ravenclaw fifty points for his intelligence and helping his friends." The Ravenclaw table was now in a uproar, for they were tied in first place with Hufflepuff.

Dumbledore raised his hand a third time and said, "Third, to Mr. Ronald Weasley, Miss Hermione Granger, Mr. Neville Longbottom, and Miss Bethany Potter-Black, I award forty points each for an excellently played chess game, knowing how to deal with a dangerous plant, use of cool logic in face of fire, and pure nerve and outstanding courage."

The Gryffindor table was in an uproar, for the one hundred and sixty points had put them at four hundred and seventy-six and they were tired with Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. The Slytherins looked distinctly unhappy as Dumbledore clapped his hands and the Slytherin hangings were transformed to hangings of the other three houses.

It was the first time in history that three houses had been tied for the House Cup and Beth wondered if Dumbledore had done this on purpose because of the whole inter-house unity thing. Well, at least three-quarters of the school were happy and had something to celebrate. And this was the first time that Hufflepuff had won the House Cup, even if they were tied.

The feast was great and Beth decided that it was the best evening of her life, even better than Christmas or winning at Quidditch.

The exam results were announced the next day and Beth was surprised that she had managed to place third with Draco. Hermione placed first, of course, and second place was taken by Ravenclaw Terry Boot. Ron and Susan were tied for fifth place, and Neville placed sixth, his excellent Herbology mark (the class where he had beat all his friends in) making up for his average Potions mark.

They had hoped that Goyle, who was almost as stupid as he was mean, might be thrown out, but he had passed, too. It was a shame, but as Ron said, you couldn't have everything in life.

And suddenly, their wardrobes were empty, their trunks were packed, Neville's toad was found lurking in a corner of the toilets; notes were handed out to all students, warning them not to use magic over the holidays (I always hope they'll forget to give us these," said Fred Weasley sadly); Hagrid was there to take them down to the fleet of boats that sailed across the lake; they were boarding the Hogwarts Express; talking and laughing as the country-side became greener and tidier; eating Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans as they sped past Muggle towns; pulling off their wizard robes and putting on jackets and coats; pulling into platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross Station.

It took a while for them all to get off the platform. A wizened old guard was up by the ticket barrier, letting them go through the gate in twos and threes so they didn't attract attention by all bursting out of a solid wall at once and alarming the Muggles.

Sirius was there to meet Beth, but Natalia wasn't, having elected to stay home to take care of Chris and Kate. He greeted the Junior Marauders and told them that they could visit. Lucius Malfoy appeared then, a frown on his face. He escorted Draco away, definitely looking displeased about something. Beth hoped that Draco would be all right and then followed Sirius out to the car. She was glad that the summer holidays had arrived and hoped that they would be wonderful.

Author's Note: Beth took Quirrell/Voldemort by surprise, which was why she was able to disarm him and then petrify him. I didn't want to copy the books in this instance. Year one is now over and the next chapter will start Beth's summer.


	14. Chapter 14

Draco silently stood in front of his father in the drawing room. Mr. Malfoy was angry with his son and looked it. "How dare you!" he said in dangerously quiet voice. "I can accept you being friendly with the Girl-Who-Lived because she's famous. I can also accept you being friends with the Bones girl, because she's from a respectable pureblood family, even if they don't end up in Slytherin. But you being friendly with the Longbottom boy!"

"The Longbottoms are a respectable pureblood family," pointed out Draco.

"In the past, yes," responded Mr. Malfoy. "But now they are no better than blood traitors! You know the parents of the Longbottom boy fought against the Dark Lord. I have also been informed that you are also friends with a Mudblood girl and a Weasley."

"The Weasleys are purebloods," muttered Draco.

"Yes, but they're blood traitors! They're no better than Mudbloods, what with that foolish Arthur Weasley's love for Muggles."

Draco drew himself up and looked his father squarely in the face. "I don't care. Beth made me see reason and I will continue to be friends with them. Nothing you can say or do will stop me."

"Oh really?" his father hissed. Mr. Malfoy was furious now. "Bend over that chair, Draco Lucius Malfoy!"

Draco froze. The last time he had to bend over a chair was when he was eight. He had done something that had angered his father so much that he'd received a spanking.

"Do it!" roared Mr. Malfoy. Draco did so and his father raised his cane. Draco bit his lip. This was not simple spanking, where has father had hit his bottom ten times with a hand. This was something much more serious.

The cane landed on Draco's bottom, leaving a stripe of pain. More blows proceeded after that. He continued to bite his lip and clenched his fists, determined not to give his father the satisfaction of hearing him cry out.

After twenty-five strikes, the beating ended. "Stand up," snapped Mr. Malfoy. Draco did so and faced his father, somehow managing to keep the expression of pain off his face and instead glaring defiance.

"You didn't learn your lesson at all, did you?" demanded Mr. Malfoy. "Maybe I should put you under the Cruciatus Curse."

Draco couldn't help showing a flash of fear. A beating with a cane was one thing, but the Cruciatus Curse was another. Witches and wizards older than him who knew pain had screamed and trashed when subjected to it. He knew that he wouldn't be able to keep quiet if tortured with it. He instantly bowed his head.

"I'm very sorry, Father," he said in a humble and petinent voice. _Sorry for having you for a father_, he thought. "I was corrupted." _By you_, he thought. "I won't behave like this again." _And by that I mean making you think I'm sorry for what I've done_.

Mr. Malfoy looked satisfied. "Hmm, you're starting to learn. But your punishment's not over, Draco. You will be confined to your room for the holidays and cannot leave except to use the bathroom. You may not send any letters at all, and Dobby will have orders to not deliver any messages for you. Your meals will be brought up to you. I will make arrangements for you to attend Durmstrang in the fall, since attending Hogwarts has corrupted you. You may leave, Draco."

"Yes, Father," said Draco, bowing. He then left the drawing room and went upstairs to his bedroom, Fortunately for him, his father didn't know about his special notebook, so he still had a way of communicating with his friends. He needed to write to them and figure out what to do. He certainly had no intention of attending Durmstrang and be separated from his friends.

_Guys, don't send any mail to me_, he wrote in his notebook. _I won't get it. Just write to me in your notebooks. My father is angry with me for my choice of friends, mainly Hermione, Ron, and Neville. I can't send any mail to you guys, and Dobby has orders not to deliver any messages for me. I'm also confined to my room except to use the bathroom and Father plans to send me to Durmstrang. I have no intention of going and I'm going to find a way out of it._

Several minutes later, there was a reply from Hermione. **That's horrible, Drake. Luckily we have the notebooks. Don't worry, we'll help you with your finding a way out of your situation.**

An hour later, Ron replied. Maybe you shouldn't have decided to be friends with me, Drake. I know my family are considered blood traitors.

_I'd still decide to be your friend if I had to do it all over again, Ron_, Draco wrote in reply.

We'll do our best to help you, then. I'll ask my dad if he has ideas if I can't think of any.

_Draco, you can't go to Durmstrang_! wrote Neville a few seconds later. _The Junior Marauders won't be the same without you. Like Mia and Ron said, we're helping you. Though I don't have any ideas at the moment._

_It's all right. You've got the rest of the summer. Anyway, I'm thinking on a solution too, you know. I -_

Draco stopped writing as he noticed Beth's handwriting. **_Draco, I'm going to ask Mum, Sirius, and Uncle Remus for advice. Hermione called awhile ago and told me what you wrote. I tried thinking of ideas to help you, but the only thing I could come up with is for you to run away like Sirius did. I don't know if you want to do that, though. I'll get back to you later with any advice I'm given._**

There was a knock on the door and he quickly hid the notebook. "Come in!" The door opened and Dobby came in with a tray containing Draco's supper.

"Thank you, Dobby," said Draco, taking the tray of food.

"You is being welcome, Master Draco," said Dobby. "Dobby is sorry that you is being locked in your room."

"I'm dealing with it, Dobby," said Draco. "You may go now." Dobby bowed and left.

Draco quickly ate his dinner and looked in his notebook. Susan had just written. (Drake, is it true that you're going to be sent to Durmstrang and that your father is very angry with you? Because that's what Nev said when he firecalled me before dinner.)

_Yes, it is_, he wrote in reply.

(That's horrible! We won't let that happen. I'm going to ask Aunt Amelia for advice. She works in the DMLE and should be able to come up with something. Be strong and have faith.)

_Thanks, Sue, I will._ Draco then put the notebook away and thought. Actually, why couldn't he run away? Sirius was the head of the Black family now, and Draco was half Black through his mother. He knew that Beth would be glad to have him live with her, and her adoptive parents would be happy to take him in. But how was he leave his room?

Dobby appeared to take the tray away then. "Wait!" exclaimed Draco, thinking of an idea. He grabbed a pair of socks from his trunk and then found an old sweater and pair of pants. He then shrunk the clothes so they were elf-sized and handed them to Dobby. "There, you're free now and no longer have to serve the Malfoy family and take orders from my parents."

Dobby stared at the clothes. "Master Draco, you mean you is setting Dobby free?"

"Yes, Dobby. I know you've never liked working for my parents and would probably want to be free and find someone kind to work for. Now, before you leave, would you do me a favor?"

"Name it, Master Draco," said Dobby eagerly.

"Could you transport my trunk and owl to the home of Sirius and Natalia Black, in Gryffin Aeyrie on Roselea Street in Elmbridge? And then use the house-elves' form of Appariation to take me there?"

"Of course, Master Draco." He snapped his fingers and the trunk and owl cage disappeared. Draco then looked around his room to make sure there was nothing else he wanted to take and then let Dobby transport him to the Black home.

The Blacks got the surprise of their life when Dobby and Draco appeared in the middle of the living room. "Draco! What are you doing here?" asked Beth.

"I'm running away like Mr. Black did," responded Draco. "Er, are you willing to take me in?"

"Of course," said Natalia, smiling warmly. "Beth told us about your situation and we were planning to let you know we'd take you in if you decided to run away. How did you get here?"

"I freed Dobby and then asked him to transport me and my things here," answered Draco.

A screech interrupted him and they went out to the hall to find his trunk and eagle owl in cage. "I'll take your things up to the guest room, Draco," said Sirius. "If your father doesn't disown you for this and tries to take you back, I'll exercise my power as Head of the Black family and dissolve the marriage between your parents."

"Thank you, Mr. Black," said Draco.

"Don't call me that, it makes me feel old," said Sirius. "Besides, I'm your cousin. Sirius or Uncle Sirius will do."

"Okay, Sirius," replied Draco.

Beth hugged him. "This is great, Draco! I will love having you live here. I'm going to call Hermione and tell her and then we can write to Sue, Ron, and Nev in our notebooks."

She explained how telephones worked and then called Hermione, who was happy to hear that Draco had escaped home and was now going to live with the Blacks. Beth and Draco were about to write their other friends the news when Natalia informed them that Dobby was now in their employ and would be paid for his work. They were happy to hear that and then rushed upstairs to contact their other friends. Susan, Neville, and Ron were also pleased with the news. It was arranged for them all to visit at Ron's house tomorrow.

Draco then got settled in his new room. He told Beth everything that his father had done, but made her promise not to tell the rest of their friends. They didn't need to know that his father had hit him with a cane and threatened to do the Cruciatus Curse. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he managed to keep them from falling. She enveloped him in a hug and patted him on back.

"You were brave to stand up to your father and take a beating without crying out," Beth said gently. "I don't know if I could have done the latter. I was yelling and crying when my scar hurt so terribly while I was touching Quirrell."

Draco pulled away from the hug and averted his face, embarrassed by his display of emotion. "I guess," he said.

"You were brave," said Beth firmly. "You may be a Ravenclaw, but you've also got some of the Gryffindor courage."

Draco nodded. "Thanks for making me feel better. I want to be alone now, though, Beth."

"Okay, Drake. Good-night." Beth got up and left. Draco read for a couple of hours and then he brushed his teeth, changed into his pyjamas, and went to bed.


	15. Chapter 15

The next morning, Draco got up early and wrote a short letter to his father.

_Lucius Malfoy, I have left, and I have asolutely no wish to acknowledge you as my father. Mother I will acknowledge, but only if she is nothing like you and will forgive me for running away. Anyway, I have no desire to remain in your home, and I have absolutely no intention of going to Durmstrang. I would rather be killed than be separated from my friends like that. Dooby is also free. I set him free and then asked him to do me a favor and help me escape. As he was free, he didn't have to obey you anymore and willingly granted me the favor. He has found a new family to work for who will treat him much better than you ever did. If you try to force me back home, then Sirius Black, as head of the Black family, will dissolve your marriage with Mother. So I suggest you just disown me and then get together with Mother and produce another Malfoy heir. This letter terminates all contact with you._

_Draco Alphard Black (I am no longer using the Malfoy name, and I have decided that my middle name will be after one of the few members of the Black family that turned out to be decent.)_

He then borrowed Beth's owl and sent the letter. When Lily had flown out the window, Beth sat down next to Draco on his bed. She was still in her nightgown and her black hair was messy, but it didn't make her any less pretty in Draco's eyes. "Are you all right, Drake?" she asked gently. "He was your father for twelve years, after all, and though you don't like him now and no longer want to be his son, you still must have some feelings."

"I don't know," responded Draco. "I'm happy to be living here with you and your family, Beth. But I never though I'd be running away from home and deciding to no longer be a Malfoy. Things were so much better this time last year. I was relatively happy and my parents loved me. Father did want me to act like a proper Malfoy, but he had never laid a hand on me except that time when I was eight when I really angered him and he spanked me. But that all changed yesterday. If I had to do it all over again, I'd still run away from home and stand up to him, but I never thought he'd cane me like that boy in the book you lent me."

Beth patted his hand and said, "Well, you can't predict the future. And what book are you talking about?"

"_David Copperfield_," replied Draco. "You remember the part when David's stepfather hit him with a cane."

"I do," answered Beth. "David had a hard time reciting his lessons in front of his stepfather and so was 'taught a lesson'."

Draco sighed. "I'm glad that you're my friend, Beth. If you hadn't made me rethink my views on the Hogwarts Express and I didn't become a Junior Marauder, I'm sure I'd be a minature version of my father now."

"Well, you didn't make a very good first impression," said Beth, laughing. "But I was brought up to be polite to everyone, unless they're evil like Voldemort or Satan. Since you weren't evil, and I had a feeling that you could turn out nice if properly directed, I decided to be nice and at the same time make you rethink your views. It worked."

"I'm very happy it did," said Draco. "I'm going to go brush my teeth now." He went to the bathroom and Beth left for her room.

At breakfast, Dobby dished up the meal and loaded Draco and Beth's plates almost to overflowing. The two managed to finish most of the food and had to talk Dobby into not refilling their plates. Beth then helped her mother bottle feed the twins and after that worked with Draco on some of their summer homework. At eleven, Hermione came over and three Flooed over to the Weasley home. Neville was already there, having arrived a few minutes before them. Susan arrived two minutes later.

Mrs. Weasley greeted them all warmly and pulled Draco into a hug. "Ron told me what happened, Draco dear. I'm sorry that your father is like that and that you had to leave home. Do come to me if you need a mother's help and Mrs. Black isn't available." It was quite obvious that she had decided to treat Draco like one of her sons.

Mrs. Weasley then went to make lunch and the Junior Marauders went out to the yard, where Ginny and the Weasley twins were. Ron introduced Ginny and his friends politely greeted her. "I have a cousin that's your age, Ginny," said Beth. "Her name is Evanna Harper. I'll introduce you to her someday and maybe the two of you will become friends."

"Thank you, Beth!" exclaimed Ginny, looking surprised and happy.

Ron then turned to Draco. "What exactly happened with your father, Drake? All you wrote was that you couldn't send letters, you were confined to your room for the summer, and that he was going to send you to Durmstrang. Then later, you and Beth wrote that you had run away with the help of Dobby after you set him free and was now living with Beth's family."

Draco sighed. "My father was furious with my choice of friends. It was the angriest I'd ever seen him."

Susan hugged him and Hermione asked, "What did your father do? Other than having you confined to your room and forbidding you from sending letters?"

Draco hesitated. He had told Beth everything, but that was only because he was most comfortable with telling her things and he knew she wouldn't judge him and try to make him feel better. Well, he knew the others would try to comfort him too, but other than Hermione, they weren't as well-read and wouldn't necessarily know that parents would use corporal punishment that wasn't just a simple spanking. "I don't want to talk about it," he finally said.

Neville frowned. "Did your father do something to you physically?" he asked.

Hermione and Susan gasped and Ron looked at Neville, then at Draco, eyes wide with shock. Beth didn't say anything, for she had promised Draco not to reveal what he had told her. "I don't want to talk about it," repeated Draco.

"Okay then, let's play Quidditch," said Ron, but he looked angry. They were going to respect Draco's wishes and not pursue the subject, but his saying that he didn't want to talk about it answered Neville's question as to whether Draco had been physically punished.

Beth had brought her Nimbus Two Thousand as well as her old Cleansweep Two. She handed the Cleansweep to Ron and said, "Use my old broom so Neville can borrow your Shooting Star, Ron."

"But - but - I'm horrible at flying!" protested Neville. "I almost fell off my broom during our first flying lesson!"

"We're going to teach you," said Beth. "You should get over your fear of flying, Nev. But if after a few lessons you're still afraid of flying and don't do well, then we'll stop and you can just watch us when we're playing Quidditch, okay?"

"Okay," said Neville. He took Ron's old Shooting Star and the others proceeded to spend the next half hour teaching him to fly. By the end, he was hovering ten feet above the ground, but he didn't feel comfortable doing anything else.

At noon, Mrs. Weasley called them all inside for lunch. Her cooking was delicious and she forced large second helpings on everyone. She tried to give Draco a third helping, saying that he was too small and thin, but he politely refused, saying truthfully that he was full and really couldn't eat any more of the delicious meal without bursting. Mrs. Weasley smiled at the praise and fussed over him for several minutes before getting up to wash the dishes.

When Draco went to the bathroom, the other Junior Marauders gathered in Ron's small room. "Mr. Malfoy must have punished Drake physically as well," said Susan. "That has to be why he doesn't want to talk about it."

"Mr. Malfoy was carrying a cane when he took Draco away," said Ron. "Do you think that he could have used it?"

"Maybe," said Hermione, frowning. "This character in a Muggle book was caned by his stepfather."

Neville looked at Beth. "Well, did Drake mention it to you, Beth? He's living with you, after all."

"I can't tell you," said Beth. "I promised Drake that I wouldn't reveal what he told me last night."

"Then he's the only one that can confirm it," said Hermione. "But we can't exactly confront Drake about it, because he doesn't want to talk about it and we have to respect his wishes."

"I don't see why he didn't tell us," said Ron. "Does he think we'll tease him or something? We're his friends, for Merlin's sake! "

"Yeah, we'd stand by him and do our best to make him feel better," said Neville. "We'd even insult Mr. Malfoy if it'd make Drake feel better."

"Really?" asked Draco, standing in the doorway. He had obviously heard part of the conversation without them noticing.

"Of course, Draco Mal- I mean Black!" exclaimed Susan, getting up and dragging him over to the group. "Honestly, you should know us better than that! Now, sit down and talk with us. If you want to."

"Fine. Okay, my father previously had never laid a hand on me except for a spanking when I was eight. I'd really angered him then. Yesterday afternoon he was really furious. I'd never seen him so angry. He went on about the improper friends I'd made, then ordered me to bend over a chair. Then he used his cane." Draco looked down at his lap, unable to look at his friends.

Susan threw an arm around him. "Drake, you're a wonderful person and Mr. Malfoy is a horrible, evil git for doing what he did to you. He doesn't deserve to be a father."

"Beth, tell them the rest," whispered Draco, still not looking up.

Beth sighed. "Draco wasn't going to give Mr. Malfoy the satisfaction of hearing him cry, so he bit his lip, clenched his fists, and managed to suffer in silence. When it was over, Drake made it clear that he was still defiant with a look, so Mr. Malfoy threatened to use to the Cruciatus Curse."

"You mean the Unforgiveable Curse that was used on my parents?" demanded Neville in shock. Draco nodded his head.

"Well, Drake knew that if he underwent that, he could, in a moment of weakness, give in to his father," continued Beth. "So he pretended to be sorry for his behavior and showed some fear at the threat. Mr. Malfoy was satisfied with that and sentenced Drake to confinement in his room, no mail, and told him that he was going to Durmstrang. And that's what happened."

"I wish I could hex Mr. Malfoy," muttered Ron angrily. "Draco didn't deserve that. Well, it's a good thing that you ran away and Beth's family took you in, Drake."

"Please don't tell anyone about the caning," whispered Draco, finally looking up.

The others exchanged looks and then Hermione said, "Don't worry, we won't, Draco."

"Thanks, guys. Let's go out and go flying again." The others exchanged looks again, but did as Draco suggested.


	16. Chapter 16

Lucius Malfoy tore Draco's letter in his anger. "How dare he act this way!" he raged.

"What happened to Draco?" asked Narcissa. As an afterthought, she added, "And where's Dobby?"

"Draco ran away!" snapped Lucius. "He wants nothing more to do with us! As for that wretched elf, our blasted boy set him free and since he no longer had to obey us, gladly heped Draco escape."

"Well, what do we do know?" asked Narcissa. "Bring Draco home and teach him a lesson so he'll behave properly?"

"And have our marriage dissolved?" demanded Lucius. "I suspect that Draco went to live with the Girl-Who-Lived and her adopted parents, because he wrote that if we tried to take him away, Sirius Black would exercise his power as Head of the Black family and dissolve my marriage with you, Narcissa."

"Oh dear, I don't want that happening," said Narcissa. Right now, her love of her husband and disgust at Draco's actions took precedence over the love she had for her wayward son. "Fine then, we can disown Draco and not acknowledge him. We can always have another child to become the perfect Malfoy heir." With that, she got up and left the room.

Lucius decided to vent out his anger by composing and sending a Howler to Draco. The last thing he really wanted was to make his son happy by granting his wish and disowning him, but Lucius didn't want his marriage dissolved. So he compromised with a Howler.

The next morning, an owl swopped in the open window and left a scarlet envelope on the breakfast table. Natalia instantly picked up Kate and Chris and left the kitchen for the living room. She put up a Silencing Charm so the twins wouldn't be deafened by the Howler. Beth, Draco, and Sirius covered their ears, but they still heard Lucius Malfoy's voice shout, "**_DRACO, YOU ARE A COMPLETE DISGRACE AND I AM UTTERLY DISGUSTED BY YOU. YOUR WISH TO BE DISOWNED IS GRANTED, FOR I HAVE NO DESIRE TO WASTE TIME TRYING TO BRING YOU TO HEEL OR HAVING MY MARRIAGE DISSOLVED. IN ANY CASE, I NO LONGER ACKNOWLEDGE YOU AS MY SON, AND I DO NOT WISH TO SEE YOU AGAIN OR HAVE ANY CONTACT WITH YOU FURTHER. IF YOU DO CONTACT ME, THE CONSEQUENCES WILL BE DIRE, FOR I WILL PUNISH YOU SEVERELY! AND SEE TO IT THAT YOU CONTINUE NOT USING THE MALFOY NAME_**!"

The Howler then burst into flames and resulted in a small pile of ashes. "What a git," muttered Sirius angrily. "I want to hex Lucius Malfoy right this minute, but he'd try to get me in trouble for it and I don't want to have to deal with that."

Beth swept the ashes in the rubbish bin. "Maybe you should go ahead and dissolve the marriage, Sirius."

"You will do no such thing, Sirius," said Natalia, coming in with the twins. "And Beth, you shouldn't have suggested it. I'm sure Lucius and Narcissa are happy together and wouldn't appreciate having their marriage dissolved. And as long as they don't try to do anything to Draco or seriously do anything to us, they are going to stay happily married."

"But it'd serve them right!" protested Sirius. "Lucius can't treat Draco like that!"

"But Narcissa hasn't done anything actively to Draco," said Natalia in a tone that brooked no argument, "So we are going to leave the Malfoys to themselves and have nothing more to do with them. Draco, tomorrow we'll see about getting your name legally changed to Black. And if you want, we can also legally adopt you."

"Can we hold off the adoption for awhile?" asked Beth suddenly. "It would be great to have Drake be my brother, but if we become siblings, we can't exactly ever date in the future."

Sirius knocked over his mostly empty cup and stared at Beth. "Okay, I do not want to ever think about my goddaughter and adoptive daughter ever dating."

"Well, you can't keep her locked up until she's of age and forbid her from dating," said Natalia mildly. "My father tried to do that and it only made me sneak around behind his back. That may be partially why I dated you while at Hogwarts."

Sirius choked. "I'm not saying that Beth can't - I mean, I just don't want to think about it!" He pushed away his chair and left the kitchen, completely losing his appetite.

"I don't mind putting off adoption," said Draco in a tiny voice. Lately, he had realized that either Beth or Susan had the potential to be more than just friends in a couple of years. If he became Beth's adoptive brother, than any chance of a relationship beyond friend and sister with her was impossible. Even though they weren't blood relatives, a relationship between adoptive siblings was still considered incest by most people.

"All right then," said Natalia. "Hurry up and finish your breakfast."

At ten, Beth, Hermione, and Draco Flooed to Susan's house, bringing with them their summer homework. Ron and Neville arrived a few minutes after them and the Junior Marauders spent until lunchtime working on their summer homework together. After lunch, they relaxed and had fun until it was time for them to return to their respective homes for dinner.

The next morning, Draco filled out papers changing his name and Sirius and Natalia filled out ones making them his guardians, but not formally adopting him. They papers were then filed and everything was made legal.

On Saturday, Evanna went with Beth to the Weasleys and was introduced to Ginny. The two girls spent the afternoon together and had a great deal of fun. When time came for them to leave, the two had decided that they were best friends and made arrangements to spend more time together.

In the evening, Beth and Draco came home to find Sirius and Natalia looking very anxious. "What's the matter?" asked Draco.

"Dobby informed us of a plot Lucius is planning," responded Natalia. "Apparently Lucius has something that belonged to Voldemort when he wasn't the Dark Lord and wants to plant it on someone to cause trouble at Hogwarts. Unfortunately, Dobby doesn't know what the object is, and all he knows is that a student will get the object."

"We have informed Dumbledore about it and he'll keep an eye out for anything odd," said Sirius.

Draco sighed. "And knowing my ex-father, the something odd will be dangerous. We really don't need a repeat of last year."

"We'll get through it," said Beth. "Just like we got through last year. And Dumbledore will be extra careful, so maybe it'll be nipped in the bud as soon as it starts."

Dobby appeared. "Dinner is ready, Mr. and Mrs. Black." He had started by calling them master and mistress, but Sirius and Natalia didn't like it. As they couldn't get Dobby to call them by their first names, they had settled for Mr. and Mrs. Black instead.

"Thank you, Dobby," said Natalia getting up. "Could you please check and make sure the twins are still asleep?"

"Yes, Mrs. Black," said Dobby, bowing. He then disappeared to the nursery.

After dinner, Beth and Draco went upstairs and wrote to their friends about the plot. Hermione wrote back that she'd instantly start looking through her books on information. Susan and Ron expressed their shock and Neville said he'd check the family library for information and ask his grandmother to let them come over and help him.

After that, Beth and Draco finished their History of Magic essay, watched a programme on the telly, and then went to bed.


	17. Chapter 17

On the thirtieth, Neville celebrated his twelfth birthday. His grandmother allowed him to have a party and he invited his friends. Knowing Neville's love of Herbology, Beth had gotten him book on North American plants and a potted Flutterby bush. The rest of the Junior Marauders had gotten Neville similar presents, either a potted plant or a book related to Herbology. He thanked his friends for his gifts and planted the three plants he'd gotten in the greenhouse.

The next day, Beth celebrated her birthday. Her friends were invited, as well as her cousin Evanna and Ginny. Her adoptive grandparents, Adam and Emma Harper, visited, and brought Beth a camera, a set of pink dress robes, and two books. They then went to spend time with Chris and Kate, cooing and fussing over their new grandchildren.

A week later, Beth discovered that she seemed to have a hard time seeing things clearly at a distance. She told Sirius, who took her to see the local optmetrist. It was discovered that she was near-sighted and required glasses. Beth was slightly surprised that she hadn't needed earlier, what with her love of reading. As they were looking for a pair, Sirius remarked, "Well, you've inherited James's bad eyesight in addition to his black hair, only not messy." Beth nodded and after awhile, picked out a pair of glasses with a light red frame. Sirius paid for them and they left the shop.

In mid-August, the Hogwarts letters arrived. Ginny and Evanna were very excited to finally be able to attend Hogwarts. Beth looked through her booklist and frowned when she discovered that over half the books assigned were written by Gilderoy Lockhart. She knew Mrs. Weasley was enamored by the author, who was rather good-looking and had written many books on his defeats of Dark creatures and beings, as well as one on household pests. However, Natalia and Sirius didn't think much of Lockhart at all, having gone to school with him and finding him to be an idiot with a big ego.

At first Hermione and Susan were impressed with Lockhart, but after Sirius and Natalia told them about his behavior in school, they were no longer interested in him. Draco, Neville, and Ron, being boys, didn't really care much for Lockhart in the first place.

The next week was the trip to Diagon Alley. The six families met in Gringotts. Ginny found Evanna and the two girls chattered excitely. Draco, looking distinctly uncomfortable, hung back. Finally Sirius noticed him. "Come on, Draco. Since Natalia and I are your guardians, we're paying for your Hogwarts things. So you can stop looking uncomfortable."

Draco turned pink and muttered a thank-you. He had been given a vault of his own when he turned eleven, but after being disowned, he knew his ex-father would have cut off access to it or transferred the money to the Malfoy vault.

After money had been withdrawn from vaults or in the case of the Grangers, exchanged, the Junior Marauders went off on their own, promising to meet the adults in Flourish and Blotts an hour later. The first stop was Florean Fortescue's, where Beth bought everyone ice-cream cones. Or rather, she tried to, but Florean Fortescue insisted on giving the cones for free. The six thanked him and then they went to Quality Quidditch Supplies.

Two new brooms were out, the Cleansweep Eight and the Nimbus Two Thousand and One. After looking at the brooms and Quidditch robes, Hermione dragged them away to the shop next door to by parchment, quills, and ink.

When they went to Flourish and Blotts, they discovered that the bookstore was very crowded. It became apparent why when they saw a large sign proclaiming that Gilderoy Lockhart would be signing copies of his autobiography, _Magical Me_, that day. Beth stifled the urge to groan and went inside to find that Mrs. Weasley was in the queue for the book-signing. She rolled her eyes and then went to find her parents.

While pushing through the crowd, a photographer for the _Daily Prophet_ snapped at Ron and Beth to move out of the way. When Ron retorted, "Big deal," Lockhart looked up. He saw Ron and then spotted Beth. He stared.

Then he leapt to his feet and positively shouted, "It can't be Bethany Potter?"

"It's Potter-Black," corrected Beth. Most of the wizarding world knew by now that her last name was 'Potter-Black', but apparently Lockhart hadn't heard.

The crowd parted, whispering excitedly. Lockhart ignored what Beth had said and dived forward, seized her arm, and pulled her to the front.

The crowd burst into applause. Beth's face burned as Lockhart shook her hand for the photographer, who was clicking away madly, wafting thick smoke over the Weasleys.

"Nice big smile, Bethany," said Lockhart, through his own gleaming teeth. "Together, you and I are worth the front page."

When he finally let go of her hand, Beth could hardly feel her fingers. She tried to sidle back over to the Weasleys, but Lockhart threw an arm round her shoulders and clamped her tightly to his side.

"Ladies and gentleman," he said loudly, waving for quiet. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time! When young Bethany here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, she only wanted to buy my autobiography - which I shall be happy to present her now, free of charge -" the crowd applauded again, "- she had no idea," Lockhart continued, giving Beth a little shake that made her glasses slip to the end of her nose, "that she would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. She and her school fellows will, in fact, be getting the real, magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that, this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

The crowd cheered and clapped and Beth found herself being presented with the entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart. Staggering slightly under their weight, she managed to make her way out of the limelight to the edge of the room, where Ginny was standing next to her new cauldron.

"You have these," Beth mumbled to her, tipping the books into the cauldron. "I'll buy my own."

Ginny turned scarlet. "Thank you, Beth, but I don't -"

"Just take them," interrupted Beth. "I don't want anything that Lockart gives me, so you can get some use out of them. Besides, think of the money it'll save your parents now that they have one less set of books to buy."

"All right then," replied Ginny, smiling. "Thanks, Beth."

Meanwhile, Sirius had taken the film from the photographer's camera and made it very clear that he didn't want Beth's picture in the paper. Lockhart tried to protest it. Sirius snapped, "I told you, I don't want Beth's name or picture in the paper! As her godfather and adopted father, I can do so, especially seeing as Beth is underage."

"Adoptive father?" sputtered Lockhart. Apparently he hadn't heard why Beth's last name was 'Potter-Black' either.

Beth joined Sirius and said, "Yes. As you should know. I was adopted by Natalia Harper, a witch, after the death of my parents. She married Sirius Black several years later and became my adoptive father in addition to godfather. I then changed my last name from Potter to Potter-Black. Also, I don't like it when people make a big deal out of my fame."

Natalia came over to stand next to Beth. "Mr. Lockhart, I suggest that you stay away from Beth in the future or Sirius and I will inform everyone what you were like in Hogwarts and how we think you're a fraud."

Lockhart paled and hastily said, "I apologize for my behavior. I didn't realize that Bethany didn't want attention, or I wouldn't have had her come up front with me. Here, have some more of my books."

Sirius and Natalia were each presented with the entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart, and Beth was handed another set. With a loud sigh of annoyance, Beth found Ron and dumped the books in his cauldron. "I don't want anything Lockhart gives me, so just take them, Ron. It'll save your parents money." Sirius and Natalia found Fred and George and gave their books to them.

Beth turned around to find Draco and was startled to see that his face was paler than usual. She hurried over to see what was wrong and then saw that Lucius Malfoy had entered the store. She slipped her hand into Draco's. "Don't worry, Drake," she whispered. "He can't do anything to you in public."

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" asked a cold voice. Draco flinched and Beth looked up to see Mr. Malfoy.

"I thought I said I didn't want to see you ever again, blood traitor," snapped Mr. Malfoy.

"Well, the Blacks had no idea that you'd show up in Flourish and Blotts today," retorted Draco, determined not to be afraid of his ex-father, or at least not show any fear.

Mr. Malfoy made a humphing sound and then looked around. "Well, well, well - Arthur Weasley."

"Lucius," said Mr. Weasley, nodding coldly.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said Mr. Malfoy. "All those raids ... I hope they're paying you overtime?"  
He reached into Ginny's cauldron and extracted, from amidst the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy of _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_.

"Obviously not," he said. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"

Mr. Weasley flushed darker than either Ron or Ginny. "We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," he said.

"Clearly," said Mr. Malfoy, his pale eyes straying to Mr. and Mrs. Granger nearby, who were watching apprehensively. "The company you keep, Weasley ... and I thought your family could sink no lower -"

"How dare you!" shrieked Natalia, a furious look on her face. "I'll have you know that Emilia Granger is my best friend! She was matron of honor at my wedding, and she and her husband are the godparents to my daughter Katherine!"

Sirius whipped out his wand. "Get out, Lucius, or you'll find yourself without a wife and the capacity to produce a heir!"

Lucius glared at Sirius for several seconds. Then he thrust Ginny's old Transfiguration book at her, eyes glittering with malice. "Here, girl - take your book - it's the best your father can give you -" With that, he turned and swept from the shop.

The books were all paid for and then they all headed for the Leaky Cauldron. Natalia berated Sirius for threatening Lucius like that, even if he deserved it, and then assured the Grangers that not everyone looked down at Muggles. Beth, Draco, and Hermione bid good-bye to Ron, Susan, and Neville, who were Flooing home. Then the Blacks and Grangers left the pub to drive home.

Author's Note: I have a poll set up as to whether Beth should up with Neville or Draco. Please go to my profile page for the link and vote. Originally I planned to have Beth with Neville, but when Draco entered the picture as a Junior Marauder, things changed. Since I can't decide between Neville and Draco, I would like my readers to decide. So please vote!


	18. Chapter 18

The day came to leave for Hogwarts. Natalia stayed home to look after the twins, so Remus went in her place. However, she bid Beth and Draco good-bye before they left for King's Cross and told them to be careful and have a good time.

Ron and Ginny got on the Hogwarts Express at the last minute. Ron hastily explained that they'd run behind that morning, as they had to return around three times to collect Fred's broom, George's box of fireworks, and Ginny's diary.

Evanna poked her head out of a compartment and said, "Hi, Ginny." Two other first-years also stood in the doorway. One was a girl with waist-length dirty-blonde hair and protrubent pale grey eyes. Combined with the fact that she had her wand tucked behind her ear and wore a necklace of butterbeer corks, she appeared a bit odd and dotty. The other was a very excited boy who was clutching a camera.

"Hi, Evanna," replied Ginny with a smile. She walked over to the compartment.

"Oh, this is Luna Lovegood," introduced Evanna. "She lives near you. And the other is Colin Creevy. He's Muggleborn."

Ginny, Luna, and Colin said hi to each other and then Ginny joined them and Evanna in the compartment. Beth led Ron to the compartment the Junior Marauders were sitting at.

For the first half hour, they sat in silence, for there wasn't much to discuss. As they'd spent most of the summer together, they knew what their holidays had been like, and they'd already discussed the plot that was supposed to happen at Hogwarts. After the witch with the food trolley came by and they'd all gotten snacks, Hermione brought up the question as to how effective a teacher Lockhart would be. His books said he had done great deeds, but he hadn't been a very good student at Hogwarts, and Hermione and Susan had discovered a few descrepancies in the books. Beth hadn't bothered to read them.

"Well, he turns out to be an ineffective teacher, that's what we have the study group for," said Ron. "We can practice Defensive spells and ask the older students to tutor us."

There was a few more minutes of silence. Then Neville said, "I'm bored."

Beth rummaged through her trunk and took out two decks of Exploding Snap cards. "We might as well play, since we have nothing to really talk about."

They played for an hour, but then Ron said he didn't want to play anymore. He looked through his trunk and took out _Flying with the Cannons_ to read. Draco, Hermione, and Susan found books to read as well. Beth and Neville went to the compartment Evanna and Ginny were in so they could meet Colin and Luna.

After an hour's conversation, Beth found that Luna was odd, and believed the things that was printed in her father's magazine, _The Quibbler_. However, she was also a very nice girl, and had a, for lack of a better term, gift of saying uncomfortable truths. Underneath her oddess, she was a very wise and brave person, and would likely be in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor.

Colin was very a very exciteable boy, and very happy to find out that all the odd things he had done was magic and he was attending Hogwarts. He had a younger brother named Dennis, who was the same age as Evanna's brother, Mike, and would attend Hogwarts in two years, as Dennis had also done accidental magic before. When Colin discovered that Beth was the Girl-Who-Lived, he asked to take her photo. Beth gave permission, but after the photo had been taken, explained that she didn't like having a fuss made over the fact that she was famous and in the future to please treat her like any other student.

Colin apologized for his behavior and promised to do his best to calm down and not hero-worship her. Then he expressed a desire to be in Gryffindor and asked how they were Sorted into houses.

"Your qualities are judged and then based on them, a house is selected," answered Beth. "If you're more brave and noble, you're in Gryffindor; if you're clever and wise you're in Ravenclaw; if you're patient and loyal, you're Hufflepuff, and if you're ambitious and cunning, you're Slytherin. However, I don't think it's likely you'll get in Slytherin, because that house doesn't accept Muggleborns. Salazar Slytherin, one of the four Founders, didn't really care much for Muggles and Muggleborns. And most Slytherins embrace this idea, though there are exceptions. My adoptive cousin, Daniel, doesn't believe in pureblood supremecy, and he's very nice. So is Daphne Greengrass, a Slytherin girl in my year."

"I really hope to be in Gryffindor now," said Colin. "I heard that Professor Dumbledore was in that house. And how do our qualities get judged?"

"It's a surprise, but nothing really scary," responded Beth, electing not to tell about the Sorting Hat. Her parents and Remus had refused to tell her when she asked, and so had her relatives and the staff at Hogwarts, insisting on it beiong a surprise. They had only told her enough so that she wouldn't be afraid or nervous.

"That's what Mum said," said Evanna. "Dan went on about facing a troll, but Mum set me straight and told Dan off for scaring me. I would love to be in Gryffindor, but I think I'm more of a Ravenclaw. If I were facing a troll, I'd look up information on how to fight it, rather than go rushing headlong to try to defeat like a Gryffindor might."

Beth chuckled, because that was exactly what she had done last year. On the other hand, Draco had gone rushing headlong too, and he was a Ravenclaw. But then, Hermione was in danger, and there wasn't time to go look up information.

"But what if you had no time to look up information?" asked Ginny. "What if the troll had raised a club to hit you?"

Evanna considered. "Then I'd think of all the spells I know and use the one that would protect me best. Maybe I'd levitate the club and knock out the troll with it."

"If there were Wrackspurts around, I'd ask them to distract the troll," said Luna dreamily.

Colin, Neville, and Beth exchanged looks, while Evanna and Ginny stifled giggles. Finally Neville said, "And then what would you do after the Wrackspurts distracted the troll, Luna?"

"Oh, I'd leave and find an adult to deal with it," replied Luna serenely.

"I see," said Beth. She knew perfectly well that Wrackspurts didn't exist, or at least, there wasn't any evidence for their existance. However, there wasn't any evidence against their existance, and if Luna wanted to believe that they were real, she could. It was a free country after all. Besides, Luna could one day be proved right in their existance. People once thought Galileo was crazy to say that the Earth revolved around the sun, but eventually he had proved to be right.

After awhile, Julie came by and told them that they had better get changed into their robes, for they were almost at Hogwarts. Beth and Neville returned to their apartment. The boys stepped out while the girls donned their robes and then the girls left so the boys could get dressed.

Half an hour later, the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station and everyone got off. Hagrid was calling the first-years over to him. The Junior Marauders said hello to him before heading for the carriages.

"What are those winged creatures pulling the carriages?" asked Neville.

"There's nothing pulling the carriages," said Ron, looking confused.

"It could be invisible horses," suggested Draco.

Beth gasped, remembering something she had read. "Oh, I think you can see thestrals, Neville. They're a type of winged horse, and they're invisible to anyone who hasn't seen someone die. Hogwarts must have a herd of them that pulls the carriages."

Neville looked relieved. "Good, I'm not going crazy." Then he looked sad. "I saw my grandfather die a couple of years ago."

"Oh, so that's why you can see thestrals," said Hermione. She patted Neville's hand, since she was unsure of what to say.

The six of them climbed into a carriage and were silent all the way up to the castle. When they arrived, they joined the other students and went to the Great Hall. Draco went to the Ravenclaw table and Susan to the Hufflepuff one. Ten minutes later, the Sorting Hat and stool were brought in and Professor McGonagall entered with the first years.

After the Sorting Hat sang its song, the first-years were called up one by one. Colin Creevy was the fifth student called up, and he was Sorted into Gryffindor. Beth clapped enthusiastically and Colin eagerly made his way to the Gryffindor table.

A few names later, Evanna Harper was called. The Hat had sat on her head for three seconds before calling out, "RAVENCLAW!" She took off the Hat and happily sat down at the Ravenclaw table. Draco congratulated her.

Several names later, Luna Lovegood was called up. She sat on the stool for half a minute before the Hat finally called out, "RAVENCLAW!" Luna looked happy as she removed the Hat and slid into the seat next to Evanna, who grinned.

Ginny was the last name called. She seemed to be in an argument with the Hat as she sat on the stool for almost a minute. Finally the Sorting Hat shouted, "RAVENCLAW!" The Ravenclaw table burst into applause and cheers, while Ron looked thunderstruck. Fred, George, and Percy had identical looks on their faces. Ginny was the first Weasley to be Sorted into Ravenclaw in several generations, just as she was the first female Weasley in several generations.

Ginny sat on Evanna's other side and looked very happy. Draco congratulated her. Ron exclaimed, "How in bloody hell did Ginny end up in Ravenclaw?"

"Language, Ron!" scolded Hermione. "And I suppose Ginny ended up in Ravenclaw because her friends were Sorted there and she wanted to be with them. That was probably why she was arguing with the Sorting Hat. It probably wanted to put her in Gryffindor, but she preferred to be in Ravenclaw. And it's not like she doesn't have the qualities of a Ravenclaw."

Dumbledore stood up and greeted everyone. Then the feast began. Beth filled her plate and began enjoying the delicious food. She noticed that Colin was amazed with the way the food had appeared on the plates.

When the feast was finally over, Professor Dumbledore stood up again. He introduced Gilderoy Lockhart as the new Defence Against Dark Arts teacher, informed everyone that the Forbidden Forest was off limits, Quidditch tryouts would start the second week of school, magic was not allowed in the corridors, and the list of banned items could be found in the caretaker's office. The annoucements were followed by the singing of the school song, and like last year, Fred and George sang to the tune of a very slow funeral march.

After that, the students headed upstairs for bed. Beth wrote a letter to her adoptive parents before she brushed her teeth and went to bed.

Author's Note: I hope readers don't mind Ginny being in Ravenclaw rather than Gryffindor. I just figured that since Evanna and Luna were in Ravenclaw and she's friends with them, she'd want to be in the same house. The Sorting Hat wanted to put her in Gryffindor, but she argued with it, and since she does have brains, it finally gave in and Sorted her into Ravenclaw.


	19. Chapter 19

Beth mailed the letter the next morning and then went down to breakfast. She was very startled to find that the house tables were gone and instead replaced with smaller tables that could sit up to a dozen people. Dumbledore explained that due to the inter-house unity that had started last year, students no longer had to sit at house tables except at the beginning- and end-of-term feasts. Everyone could sit with their friends, regardless of what house they were all in.

The Junior Marauders were very pleased with this news and sat together at one end of a table. Ginny, Evanna, Luna, and Colin sat at the other end. Timetables were handed out and Beth saw that her first class was Herbology with the Hufflepuffs.

After breakfast, Draco went to Transfiguration and the rest of the Junior Marauders went outside to the greenhouses. Professor Sprout appeared a minute after they did and informed the class that they would be working in Greenhouse Three today.

There was a murmur of interest. They had only ever worked in Greenhouse One before - Greenhouse Three housed far more interesting and dangerous plants.

Professor Sprout took a large key from her belt and unlocked the door. Beth caught a whiff of damp earth and fertilizer, mingled with the heavy perfume of some giant, umbrella-sized flowers dangling from the ceiling. The class filed in.

Professor Sprout went to stand behind a trestle bench in the centre of the greenhouse. About twenty pairs of different-colored earmuffs were lying on the bench. When everyone had found a space to stand, she said, "We'll be re-potting Mandrakes today. Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?"

To nobody's surprise, Hermione's hand was first into the air. Neville's followed a second later, but he wasn't called on.  
"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative," said Hermione, sounding as usual as though she had swallowed the textbook. "It is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed, to their original state."

"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor," said Professor Sprout. "The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?"

Hermione's hand narrowly missed Beth's glasses as it shot up again. Neville raised his hand also and was called on. "The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it," he said promptly.

"Precisely. Take another ten points," said Professor Sprout. "Now, the Mandrakes we have here are still very young."

She pointed to a row of deep trays as she spoke and everyone shuffled forward for a better look. A hundred or so tufty little plants, purplish green color, were growing in their rows. They looked quite unremarkable to Beth, who didn't have the slightest idea what Neville meant by the "cry" of the Mandrake.

"Everyone take a pair of earmuffs," said Professor Sprout.  
There was a scramble as everyone tried to seize a pair that wasn't pink and fluffy.

"When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are completely covered," said Professor Sprout. "When it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs-up. Right - earmuffs on."

Beth snapped the earmuffs over her ears. They shut out sound completely. Professor Sprout put a pink fluffy pair over her own ears, rolled up the sleeves of her robes, grasped one of the tufty plants firmly, and pulled hard.

Beth let out a gasp of surprise that no one could hear. Instead of roots, a small, muddy and extremely ugly baby popped out of the earth. The leaves were growing right out of the top of his head. He had pale green, mottled skin, and was clearly bawling at the top of his lungs.

Professor Sprout took a large plant pot from under the table and plunged the Mandrake into it, burying him in the dark, damp compost until only the tufted leaves were visible.

Professor Sprout dusted off her hands, gave them all the thumbs-up and removed her own earmuffs.

"As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet," she said calmly, as though she'd done nothing more than water a begonia. "However, they will knock you out for several hours, and as I'm sure none of you want to miss your first day back, make sure your earmuffs are securely in place while you work. I will attract your attention when it is time to pack up.

"Four to a tray - there is a large supply of pots here - compost in the sacks over there - and be careful of the Venomous Tentacular, it's teething."

She gave a sharp slap to a spiky, dark red plant as she spoke, making it draw in the long feelers that had been inching sneakily over her shoulder.

Ron and Hermione took a tray with Dean Thomas and Parvati Patil. Beth, Susan, and Neville shared a tray with Justin Finch-Fletchley, a boy in Hufflepuff that Susan was on good terms with, though not friends.

"That Lockhart's something, isn't he?" said Justin happily, as they began filling their plant pots with dragon-dung compost. "Awfully brave chap. Have you read his books? I'd have died of fear if I'd been cornered in a telephone box by a werewolf, but he stayed cool and - zap - just fantastic. My name was down for Eton, you know, I can't tell you how glad I am I came here instead. Of course, my mother was slightly disappointed, but since I made her read Lockhart's books I think she's begun to see how useful it'll be to have a fully trained wizard in the family ..."

After that they didn't have a chance to talk. Their earmuffs were back on and they needed to concentrate on the Mandrakes. Professor Sprout had made it look extremely easy, but it wasn't. The Mandrakes didn't like coming out of the earth, but didn't seem to want to go back in either. They squirmed, kicked, flailed their sharp little fists and gnashed their teeth; Beth spent ten whole minutes trying to squash a particularly fat one into a pot. Neville was the only one that was able to repot the Mandrakes almost as easily as Professor Sprout and Beth had to stifle the urge to feel jealous.

By the end of the class, Beth, like everyone else, was sweaty, aching and covered in earth. They traipsed back to the castle for a quick wash and then the Gryffindors hurried off to Transfiguration.

Professor McGonagall's classes were always hard work, but today was especially difficult. Everything Beth had learned last year seemed to have leaked out of her head during the summer. She was supposed to be turning a beetle into a button, but all she managed to do was give her beetle a lot of exercise as it scuttled over the desk top avoiding her wand. By the end class, she was finally able it to transfigure it into a plastic button, but one with the same color and shape as the beetle. This didn't impress McGonagall at all, who had praised Hermione for the handful of perfect coat buttons she'd produced. Even Neville had done a better job than Beth, having produced a plain blue round button. At least Ron hadn't done well, either.

They went down to lunch and found Draco and Susan already there, sitting at a table. The four joined them and a few minutes later, Ginny, Luna, and Evanna turned up. Colin didn't join them, electing to sit at another table with his dormmates and a couple of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff first-year boys.

"What's the matter, Evanna?" asked Beth, spotting the grumpy look on Evanna's face.

"The idiots in Ravenclaw that don't appreciate Luna and see her as the nice girl she is," responded Evanna.

Ginny nodded. "When the two other girls in our dorm discovered that Luna's father is the editor of _The Quibbler_, they decied to shun her and by extension Evanna and me because we're her friends. One of the boys came up with the nickname 'Loony' after breakfast this morning and our dormmates picked it up, along with some of the other Ravenclaws."

Draco frowned. "Michael Croner said something about 'Loony' in Charms, but I didn't realize that he was referring to Luna."

"That's awful!" exclaimed Hermione. She had been teased a few times before in primary school and therefore didn't like it.

"However, Luna here doesn't stand up for herself or even seem to care at all that she's being teased," said Evanna, shaking her head. "Ginny and I end up having to stand up for her, though it's something we'd do anyway, as we're her friends."

"Ignoring them might be better than confronting them," said Luna, serenely eating her lunch.

"But we can't just them them walk all over you and make fun of you, Luna!" protested Ginny.

Evanna sighed. "Luna does have a point, Ginny. If we don't react, the ones that do the teasing may get tired of not getting a reaction and stop. Besides, only about a handful of Ravenclaws are actually making fun of Luna."

"Yes, but a majority of those not making fun of Luna are older students and don't know about her yet," pointed out Ginny.

A shout interrupted her from saying anything more. Students turned to see the cause of the shout and saw Colin standing at his table, looking furious. "Just because Luna's odd doesn't give you the right to call her 'Loony' or make fun of her!"

Professor McGonagall was there in a flash and asked, "What seems to be the problem here, Mr. Creevy?"

"It's them!" exclaimed Colin, pointing at the three Ravenclaw boys. "I sat with Luna Lovegood during the train ride and at breakfast and found her nice, if a bit odd. Now they have the nerve to tell me that she's crazy and to call her 'Loony'! My parents told me to never make fun of others and be nice to them."

"Is this true?" asked McGonagall, a frown on her face.

The Ravenclaw boys didn't answer, but one of the two Hufflepuff boys at the table said, "It is, Professor."

"Ten points from Ravenclaw," said McGonagall. "Making fun of students is not something encouraged at Hogwarts. And Mr. Creevy, while it is admirable that you wish to defend another student, you do not need to shout or cause a scene. Please refrain from doing so in the future if you have to stand up for someone."

"Yes, Professor," replied Colin. When she had returned to the staff table, he gathered his things and went to join Ginny, Luna, and Evanna. The Hufflepuff boy who had answered McGonagall went with him.

Colin introduced the boy as Paul Jennings to the girls and then the Junior Marauders introduced themselves. Paul was a halfblood, and like Colin, was an open-minded person and was nice to others unless they were truly unpleasant.

The five first-years then spent the rest of lunch getting to be better friends as they ate. By the time lunch was over, they had decided to form a group known as the Fabulous Five, at least until they could think of a better name. Beth made a note to ask Sirius for the Duplication Spell so she could create a copy of the Marauder's Map and give it to the new group.

After lunch the second-year Gryffindors had Defence Against Dark Arts. When the whole class was seated, Lockhart cleared his throat loudly and silence fell.

He reached forward, picked up Neville's copy of _Travels with Trolls_ and held it up to show his own, winking portrait on the front. "Me," he said, pointing at it and winking as well, "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League and five times winner of Which Weekly's Most-Charming Smile Award - but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!"

He waited for them to laugh; a few people smiled weakly.

"I see you've all bought a complete set of my books - well done. I thought we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about - just to check how well you've read them, how much you've taken in ..."

When he had handed out the test papers he returned to the front of the class and said, "You have thirty minutes. Start - now!"

Beth looked down at his paper and read:

1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?

2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?

3. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?

On and on it went, over three sides of paper, right down to: 54. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?

As Beth hadn't bothered to read the books, only briefly skimmed through them, she had no idea what the answers were. She left most of the questions blank, but answered five of them. For the second question, she wrote down, "To do all the things he says he's done in his books." For the third, she wrote, "Being able to get dressed in the mornings." For the last one, she wrote, "I don't know the date, but his ideal gift would be getting a brain."

Half an hour later, Lockhart collected in the papers and rifled through them in front of the class.  
"Tut, tut - hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is lilac. I say so in _Year with a Yeti_. And a few of you need to read Wanderings with Werewolves more carefully - I clearly state in chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples - though I wouldn't say no to a large bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey!"

He gave them another roguish wink. Ron was now staring at Lockhart with an expression of disbelief on his face; Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who were sitting in front, were shaking with silent laughter. Hermione had a frown on her face, and gave a start when Lockhart mentioned her name.

" ... but Miss Hermione Granger knew my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care potions - good girl! In fact -" he flipped her paper over, "full marks! Where is Miss Hermione Granger?"

Hermione raised a trembling hand.  
"Excellent!" beamed Lockhart. "Quite excellent! Take ten points for Gryffindor! And so, to business ..."

He bent down behind his desk and lifted a large, covered cage onto it.  
"Now - be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizard kind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm."

In spite of himself, Beth leaned around her pile of books for a better look at the cage.

Lockhart placed a hand on the cover. Dean and Seamus had stopped laughing now. Neville was cowering in his front-row seat.  
"I must ask you not to scream," said Lockhart in a low voice. "It might provoke them."

As the whole class held their breath, Lockhart whipped off the cover.  
"Yes," he said dramatically. "Freshly caught Cornish pixies."

Seamus Finnigan couldn't control himself. He let out a snort of laughter which even Lockhart couldn't mistake for a scream of terror.

"Yes?" he smiled at Seamus.

"Well, they're not, they're not very - dangerous, are they?" Seamus choked.

"Don't be so sure!" said Lockhart, waggling a finger annoyingly at Seamus. "Devilish tricky little blighters they can be!"

The pixies were electric blue and about eight inches high, with pointed faces and voices so shrill it was like listening to a lot of budgies arguing. The moment the cover had been removed, they had started jabbering and rocketing around, rattling the bars and pulling bizarre faces at the people nearest them.

"Right then," said Lockhart loudly. "Let's see what you make of them!" And he opened the cage.

It was pandemonium. The pixies shot in every direction like rockets. Two of them seized Neville by the ears and lifted him into the air.

Several shot straight through the window, showering the back row with broken glass. The rest proceeded to wreck the classroom more effectively than a rampaging rhino. They grabbed ink bottles and sprayed the class with them, shredded books and papers, tore pictures from the walls, upended the waste bin, grabbed bags and books and threw them out the smashed window; within minutes, half the class were sheltering under desks and Neville was swinging from the candelabra in the ceiling.

"Come on now, round them up, round them up, they're only pixies ..." Lockhart shouted.

He rolled up his sleeves, brandished his wand and bellowed, "Peskipiksi Pesternomi!"

It has absolutely no effect; one of the pixies seized Lockhart's wand and threw it out of the window, too. Lockhart gulped and dived under his own desk, narrowly avoiding being squashed by Neville, who fell a second later as the candelabra gave way.

The bell rang and there was a mad rush towards the exit. In the relative calm that followed, Lockhart straightened up, caught sight of Beth, Ron and Hermione, who were helping Neville up, and said, "Well, I'll ask you four to just nip the rest of them back into their cage."

He swept past them and shut the door quickly behind him.

"Can you believe him?" roared Ron, as one of the remaining pixies bit him painfully on the ear.

"He obviously doesn't know what he's doing," said Hermione in disapproval. She then immobilised two pixies at once with a clever Freezing Charm and stuffing them back into their cage.

Beth copied Hermione's spell and immobilised several pixies as well, After several attempts, Ron and Neville got the hang of the charm and helped the girls immobilise the rest of the pixies. They stuffed the pixies back into the cage and then filed out the classroom, not having enjoyed the lesson at all. It looked as if they would have to learn proper Defence in the study group.

Author's Note: If you have a better name than the Fabulous Five for the group consisting for Ginny, Luna, Evanna, Colin, and Paul, please send in your suggestions in a review or PM. I will pick the best one and that person will get a chapter dedication and a large basket of virtal goodies. Everyone else that sends in suggestions will get some virtual cookies.


	20. Chapter 20

Early Saturday morning, a sleepy-looking Katie Bell came into the first-year girls' dorm and woke Beth up. "Wood wants us all up for Quidditch practice," said Katie, an annoyed look on her face. "Get dressed and meet the rest of us in the locker room, Beth."

Beth groaned and got out of bed. She never woke up this early except on Christmas and so found it very annoying. After throwing on a pair of jeans and the first shirt she grabbed out of her trunk, she hurriedly brushed her teeth, changed her slippers to trainers, grabbed her broom, and ran outside to the changing rooms. The rest of the team were already there, and Oliver Wood was the only one that looked truly awake.

He went on about how they should have won the Quidditch Cup last year and then spent at least an hour going over some diagrams he drew up on their new training regime. Beth stifled yawns and kept thinking about what was being served for breakfast. She could really use some toast slathered with jam right now.

Finally Wood was done and asked if there were any questions. "I have one," said Fred. "Why couldn't you have told us all this yesterday, when we were awake?"

Wood wasn't pleased with this. "Do you want to win the Quidditch Cup this year or not?" Fred didn't answer and so Wood told the team to follow him outside.

The rest of the Junior Marauders were up in the stands and Beth looked jealously at the toast they were eating. "Aren't you done yet?" called Ron incredulously.

"We haven't even started!" Beth called back in reply.

Once she got up in the air, all annoyance at Wood disappeared. Other than reading a good book and spending time with her friends and family, flying was her favorite activity. The cool air woke her up fully as Wood's long-winded talk hadn't, and a breeze gently whipped through her hair. After a few minutes, the balls were released and Beth started looking for the Snitch. Right after she caught the Snitch five minutes later, she noticed that the Hogwarts Prowlers (as the Fantastic Five had renamed themselves) had joined the Junior Marauders in the stands. Colin had brought his camera and was taking pictures of the entire team.

Practice ended two hours later and Wood seemed pleased by how well everyone had done. After Beth had finished showering and changing, her friends met her outside the locker room. "Here," said Susan, handing her four slices of toast and jam wrapped in a napkin. "We know you never got a chance to eat breakfast."

"Thanks, Sue," replied Beth, hungrily taking a bite of toast. "Why don't we go visit Hagrid as soon as I'm done eating?"

The others agreed and as soon as Beth was done with the toast, they headed over to Hagrid's hut. He was pleased to see them and poured out tea and set out rock cakes and treacle toffee. They had some toffee, but didn't touch the rock cakes. After asking them how their first week had been, Hagrid mentioned that the Hogwarts Prowlers had visited yesterday afternoon. He was the one that had suggested the name 'Prowlers' when they asked him for suggestions on a good name for their group and they had added 'Hogwarts' to it.

Then they went outside, where Hagrid showed them the pumpkins he was growing and next month be carved for the Halloween feast. They were quite big and when Susan asked how the pumpkins got so big, Hagrid answered, "Ah, I've bin givin' them some help," and looked furtively in the direction of his pink umbrella. Beth had suspected that the remains of Hagrid's wand were hidden in the umbrella since three years ago and merely nodded.

Hermione looked slightly disapproving as well as impressed as she asked, "An Engorgement Charm, then? Well, you've done a good job, Hagrid."

Hagrid thanked them and not long after that, the Junior Marauders went up to the castle for lunch.

On Monday, the study group started up again, with many of the first years joining. Among them were six Slytherins, three boys and three girls. One of the girls was Asteria Greengrass, younger sister of Daphne. The Slytherins main concern was having an environment where they could study and really didn't care about the background of the older students who tutored them. When Asteria asked Hermione for help and Hermione hesitantly said that she was Muggleborn, Asteria responded tartly, "I don't care about anyone's blood, Hermione. I'd ask a Flobberworm to tutor me right now if it could speak and had anything worth teaching me. So help me with Transfiguration. Please."

Ginny, Luna, and Evanna's two dormmates showed up the first night, but when they saw that Luna was there, loudly remarked, "We don't want Loony here. She's not going to be-"

The Head Boy interrupted them. "This study group is open to all students from all houses. Which means that someone with strange beliefs is welcome here. If you have a problem with that, you two can leave."

Cho Chang, a third-year Ravenclaw, added, "You really should show some more respect to a fellow Ravenclaw, girls. Just because Luna Lovegood is weird doesn't mean she deserves to be ill-treated. She's a member of our house and I thought Ravenclaws encouraged thinking outside the box and trying out new ideas."

The two girls exchanged looks, then grabbed their books and stood up. "We're leaving," said one of them. "We refuse to be in the same study group as someone that's so crazy. We're entitled to our own beliefs too, and we'll never accept Loony Lovegood."

"You don't have to accept her," said Penelope Clearwater, one of the Ravenclaw prefects. "Just leave her alone and don't make fun of her in the future. I've already had to speak to you once about it, and if you keep it up, I will tell Professor Flitwick and give you two a detention." The two girls stuck their tongues out at Penelope and then left the room.

The study group continued without any more problems. Privately, most of the Ravenclaws thought Luna was weird, but a majority of them had the sense to just let her be and didn't tease her. It was only the two girls and three of the first-year boys and a few older students like Michael Croner and Marietta Edgecombe that wanted to make Luna's life miserable, but couldn't do much without annoying the prefects. And even Marietta had had decided to just simply ignore Luna, because after the first time she'd said something uncomplimentary, Cho had told her off and the rest of her friends had agreed with Cho. Michael Croner also had decided to ignore Luna, after being told off several times by Draco and having Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein give him the cold shoulder.

September passed calmly. After the disastrous first class, Lockhart had taken to acting out parts of his book and calling on students to help. He never called on Beth, remembering Natalia's threat, but so far Hermione and Neville had to play scared villagers, Dean Thomas a werewolf, and Ron had been asked to play a yeti and a vampire. Naturally, classes were rather boring and they didn't learn Defence, so students had to practice spells in the study group. Everything seemed to be going well.


	21. Chapter 21

October passed without incident, other than that a number of students caught colds and had to be given Pepper-Up Potion by Madam Pomfrey. Beth noticed the Hogwarts Prowlers gathered around a journal or notebook a few times, writing in it and whispering to each other. She paid no attention to this.

On Halloween, there was the usual feast, but Colin was missing for half of it. He finally showed up just before dessert, an odd look on his face. When the feast was over, everyone left the Great Hall, but stopped in shock when they came across the frozen body of Mrs. Norris and saw the words "THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS IS OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE", written in red paint on the wall.

Pansy Parkinson shouted, "You'll be next mudbloods!", but was silenced by Daphne Greengrass.

Filch let out a shriek when he saw his cat and wailed how it was dead. Dumbledore came along and after inspecting the cat, assured Filch that she wasn't dead, but merely Petrified. When the Mandrakes were full grown, a restorative potion could be made and revive Mrs. Norris. As nobody had any idea as to how the cat had been Petrified, or who could have done it, nothing could really be done. Everyone returned to their common rooms, discussing what had happened.

A few days later, in History of Magic class, Hermione raised her hand and asked Professor Binns to tell about the Chamber of Secrets. Dean Thomas, who had been sitting with his mouth hanging open, gazing out of the window, jerked out of his trance; Lavender Brown's head came up off her arms and Neville's elbow slipped off his desk.

Professor Binns Blinked.  
"My subject is History of Magic," he said in his dry, wheezy voice. "I deal with facts, Miss Granger, not myths and legends." He cleared his throat with a small noise like chalk snapping and continued, "In September of that year, a sub-committee of Sardinian sorcerers -" He stuttered to a halt. Hermione's hand was waving in the air again. "Miss Grant?"

"Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?"  
Professor Binns was looking at Hermione in such amazement, Beth was sure no student had ever interrupted him before, alive or dead.

"Well," said Professor Binns slowly, "yes, one could argue that, I suppose." He peered at Hermione as though he had never seen a student properly before. "However, the legend of which you speak is such a very sensational, even ludicrous tale ..."  
But the whole class was now hanging on Professor Binns's every word. He looked dimly at them all, every face turned to his. Beth could tell he was completely thrown by such an unusual show of interest.  
"Oh, very well," he said slowly. "Let me see ... the Chamber of secrets ..."

"You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago - the precise date is uncertain - by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Huffelpuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution."

He paused, gazed blearily around the room, and continued, "For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school.

Professor Binns paused again, pursing his lips, looking like a wrinkled old tortoise.  
"Reliable historical sources tell us this much," he said, "but these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing. Slytherin, according to legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."

There was a silence as he finished telling the story, but it wasn't the usual sleepy silence that filled Professor Binns's classes. There was unease in the air as everyone continued to watch him, hoping for more. Professor Binns looked faintly annoyed.  
"The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course," he said. "Naturally, the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most learned witches and wizards. It does not exist. A tale told to frighten the gullible."

Hermione's hand was back in the air.  
"Sir - what exactly do you mean by the 'horror within' the Chamber?"

"That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the heir of Slytherin alone can control," said Professor Binns in his dry, reedy voice.

The class exchanged nervous looks.  
"I tell you, the thing does not exist," said Professor Binns, shuffling his notes. "There is no Chamber and no monster."

"But, sir," said Seamus Finnegan, "if the Chamber can only be opened by Slytherin's true heir, no one else would be able to find it, would they?"

"Nonsense, O'Flaherty," said Professor Binns in an aggravated tone. "If a long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses haven't found the thing -"

"But, Professor," piped up Pavarti Patil, "you'd probably have to use Dark Magic to open it -"

"Just because a wizard doesn't use Dark Magic, doesn't mean he can't, Miss Pennyfeather," snapped Professor Binns. "I repeat, if the likes of Dumbledore -"

"But maybe you've got to be related to Slytherin, so Dumbledore couldn't -" began Dean Thomas, but Professor Binns had had enough.

"That will do," he said sharply. "It is a myth! It does not exist! There is not a shred of evidence that Slytherin ever built so much as a secret broom cupboard! I regret telling you such a foolish story! We will return, if you please, to solid, believable, verifiable fact!" And within five minutes, the class had sunk back into its usual torpor.

Later that, Draco and Susan were told about what Professor Binns had said on the Chamber of Secrets. They were discussing it on the way to the study room and stopped when they saw the crowd of students gathered around the portrait of the Founders in front of the entrance. "Please, Lord Slytherin, can't you tell us about the Chamber of Secrets?" asked Seamus.

"It is none of your business," said Slytherin firmly. "Stop pestering me. I've already told several students that I won't talk about the Chamber of Secrets that I supposedly built. I already feel bad enough for breaking with the Founders on the matter of Muggles and Muggleborn students. I don't want to discuss something else that's botherin my conscience."

A sixth-year Ravenclaw said, "But it would be a big help, Lord Slytherin. A cat has been Petrified, and the writing on the wall said the Chamber of Secrets is open again."

"Fine, I built a secret chamber," snapped Slytherin. "I enclosed a monster in it that can only be controlled by me and anyone else that has one of my special abilities. Someone must have figured out how to open the Chamber and unleashed the monster so that it Petrified someone. And that is all I'm going to say on the subject!"

The protests of several students didn't make him budge and the other three Founders sharply told the students to leave Slytherin alone or they'd no longer let students in to use the study room. This threat silenced everyone and finally a Hufflepuff gave out the password so they could all go in.

The first Quidditch match of the year, between Gryffindor and Slytherin, was held. Terrence Higgs had graduated and Beth's cousin, Daniel, had taken over as the Slytherin Seeker. Daniel was the only member of the Slytherin team that played fair. Beth wasn't sure how she felt having to play against her cousin. He was one of the few decent Slytherins, and a part of her would feel a little bad for beating him. In the end, she decided to just ignore family ties and focus only on the match.

After half an hour, Beth knocked aside Dan's arm as he was reaching out and grabbed the Snitch in her hand. She raised her arm triumphantly as Lee Jordan happily shouted out that Gryffindor had one. Dan looked disappointed, but said, "Good match, Beth," and flew down to the ground.

That evening, Beth heard a hissing voice in the wall talk about wanting to rip and kill. She looked around and tried to find who was whispering, but couldn't figure it out. The next day, at breakfast, Dumbledore reported that Colin Creevy had been Petrified, just like Mrs. Norris. Evanna's face turned very pale, while Ginny burst into tears. Paul set about comforting Ginny, though his eyes showed that he was frightened and worried. Luna, who'd suggested one of her weird creatures had been responsible after Mrs. Norris had been petrified, was now silent and looked worried. She reduced a slice of toast to crumbs in her worry. After breakfast, the Hogwarts Prowlers went to the Hospital Wing to check on Colin.

The Junior Marauders spent most of the rest of the day in the Room of Requirement discussing what had happened. They tried to figure out who could have done it, but their only guess was that it was most likely a Slytherin. Pansy Parkinson was mean enough to want to do it, especially with the fact that she had called, "You'll be next Mudbloods!" when the writing on the wall had been discovered. However, they doubted that she had whatever ability Salazar Slytherin had to control the monster, or figured out how to open the Chamber. Finally they gave up for the time being and went downstairs for dinner.


	22. Chapter 22

The atomsphere at Hogwarts was not the way it was at September. Students were nervous about Colin and Mrs. Norris being Petrified and the Chamber of Secrets supposedly being opened. Ginny and Evanna looked increasingly pale and worried as the days passed and nothing Paul and Luna said could cheer them up. Percy thought Ginny looked peaky and dragged her to Madam Pomfrey for a Pepper-Up Potion. While Ginny perked up a bit and had steam coming out of her ears for a couple of hours, she went back to being pale and worried by the next day.

Beth, Julie, and Dan took Evanna aside and asked her what was wrong, for they didn't think a Pepper-Up Potion would help. Evanna just shouted, "What's wrong? Colin being Petrified is what's wrong! How would you feel if one of your best friends got petrified by whatever monster is in the Chamber of Secrets?" With that, she stormed away.

A few days later, a notice was up outside the Great Hall regarding a dueling club that had been set up. Deciding that it could be of us, the Junior Marauders decided to attend. However, they started having second thoughts when they saw that Lockhart was the one running it. They grimaced when they saw that Snape was with him.

Lockhart waved an arm for silence and called, "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!

"Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little Dueling Club, to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions - for full details, see my published works.

"Let me introduce my assistant Professor Snape," said Lockhart, flashing a wide smile. "He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry - you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!"

Snape's upper lip was curling. Beth wondered why Lockhart was still smiling; if Snape had been looking at her like that (not that he would) she'd have been running as fast as she could in the opposite direction.

Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and bowed; at least, Lockhart did, with much twirling of his hands, whereas Snape jerked his head irritably. Then they raised their wands like swords in front of them.

"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," Lockhart told the silent crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

"I wouldn't bet on that," Beth murmured, watching Snape baring his teeth.

"One - two - three -"

Both of them swung their wands up and over their shoulders. Snape cried: "_Expelliarmus_!"

There was a dazzling flash of scarlet light and Lockhart was blasted off his feet: he flew backwards off the stage, smashed into the wall and slid down to sprawl on the floor. Several of the Slytherins cheered.

Lockhart was getting unsteadily to his feet. His hat had fallen off and his wavy hair was standing on end.

"Well there you have it!" he said, tottering back on to the platform. "That was a Disarming Charm - as you see, I've lost my wand - ah, thank you, Miss Brown. Yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind me saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy. However, I felt it would be instructive to let them see ..."

Snape was looking murderous.

Possibly Lockhart had noticed, because he said, "Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me ..."

They moved through the crowd, matching up partners. Neville was paired with Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Hermione with Susan. Snape reached Beth, Ron, and Draco first. "Weasley, you can partner Finnigan," Snape sneered. "Malfoy, you're with Boot. And Miss Potter, I think we'll see how well you do with Miss Parkinson." Before he turned, he whispered, "Sorry about that, but it'll look odd if I pair you with a friend, Beth."

Beth inwardly sighed as she faced Pansy. The other girl was pug-faced, and still as unpleasant as she had been when Beth first met her on the Hogwarts Express. Unlike Draco, who had first been rude but later learned to be nice, Pansy had never learned to change her views or at least be polite and keep her views to herself.

"Face your partners!" called Lockhart, back on the platform, "and bow!"

Beth and Pansy barely inclined their heads, not taking their eyes off each other.

"Wands at the ready!" shouted Lockhart. "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponent - only to disarm them - we don't want any accidents. One ... two ... three ..."

Beth swung her wand over her shoulder, but Pansy had already started on 'two': Her spell hit Beth so hard she felt as though she'd been hit over the head with a saucepan.

She stumbled, but everything still seemed to be working, and wasting no more time, Beth pointed her wand straight at Pansy and shouted, "_Expelliarmus_!"

To her utter suprise, Pansy stumbled backwards a little and her wand flew out of her hand to land three feet in front of her. She regained her balance and stared at Beth in shock, who was surprised that she'd been able to disarm Pansy on the first try. As Pansy went to pick up her wand, the other paired groups were doing everything but disarming their opponent.

"I said disarm only!" Lockhart shouted in alarm over the heads of the battling crowd.

Pansy shouted another spell, but Beth managed to dodge it and shouted, "_Rictusempra_!" Pansy fell to her knees, laughing, for she had been hit by a Tickling Charm. Beth hung back, with a vague feeling that it would be unsporting to bewitch Pansy while she was on the floor.

"Stop! Stop!" screamed Lockhart, but Snape took charge.

"_Finite Incantatem!"_ he shouted; Pansy stopped laughing and they looked up.

"Dear, dear," said Lockhart, skittering through the crowd, looking at the aftermath of the duels. "Up you get, Macmillan ... careful there, Miss Fawcett ... pinch it hard, and it'll stop bleeding in a second, Boot ...

"I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells," said Lockhart, standing flustered in the midst of the hall. He glanced at Snape, whose black eyes glinted, and looked quickly away. "Let's have a volunteer pair - Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you?"

"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart," said Snape, gliding over like a large and malevolent bat. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a match-box." Neville's round pink face went pinker.

"How about Miss Parkinson and Miss Potter?" said Snape with a twisted smile.

"Excellent idea!" said Lockhart, gesturing Beth and Pansy into the middle of the Hall as the crowd backed away to give them room.

"Now, Bethany," said Lockhart, "When Pansy points his wand at you, you do this." He raised his wand, attempting a complicated sort of wiggling action and dropped it. Snape smirked as Lockhart quickly picked it up, saying, "Whoops - my wand is a little over-excited."

Snape moved closer to Pansy bent down and whispered something in her ear. Pansyy smirked, too. Beth looked nervously up at Lockhart and said, "Professor, could you show me that blocking thing again?"

"Scared?" muttered Pansy, so that Lockhart couldn't hear her.

"You wish," said Beth out of the corner of her mouth.

Lockhart cuffed Beth merrily on the shoulder. "Just do what I did, Bethany!"

"What, drop my wand?"

But Lockhart wasn't listening. "Three - two - one - go!" he shouted.

Pansyy raised her wand quickly and bellowed, "_Serpensortia_!"

The end of her wand exploded. Beth watched, aghast, as a long black snake shot out of it, fell heavily onto the floor between them and raised itself, ready to strike. A look of surprise and shock appeared on Snape's face, which was quickly masked.

There were screams as the crowd backed swiftly away, clearing the floor.

"Don't move, Miss Potter," said Snape curtly. "I'll get rid of it ..."

"Allow me!" shouted Lockhart.

He brandished his wand at the snake and there was a loud bang; the snake, instead of vanishing, flew ten feet into the air and fell back to the floor with a loud smack. Enraged, hissing furiously, it slithered straight towards Justin Finch-Fletchley and raised itself again, fangs exposed, poised to strike.

Beth wasn't sure what made her do it. She wasn't even aware of deciding to do it. All she knew was that her legs were carrying her forward as though she was on castors and that she had shouted stupidly at the snake, "Leave him!"

And miraculously - unexplainably - the snake slumped to the floor, docile as a thick black garden hose, its eyes now onBeth.

Beth felt the fear drain out of her. She knew that snake wouldn't attack now, though how she knew, she couldn't have explained.

She looked up at Justin, grinning, expecting to see Justin looking relieved, or puzzled, or even grateful - but certainly not angry and scared.

"What do you think you're playing at?" she shouted, and before Beth could say anything, Justin had turned and stormed out of the Hall.

Snape stepped forward, waved his wand and the snake vanished in a small puff of black smoke. Snape, too, was looking at Beth in an unexpected way; it was a shrewd and calculating look, and Beth didn't like it. She was also dimly aware of an ominous muttering all round the walls. Then she felt a tugging on the back of her robes.

"Come on," said Susan's voice in her ear. "Move - come on ..."

Susan steered her out of the Hall, the rest of the Junior Marauders hurrying alongside them. As they went through the doors, the people on either side drew away as though they were frightened of catching something. Beth didn't have a clue what was going on, and her friends explained anything until they had dragged her all the way up to the Room of Requirement. Then Susan pushed Harry into an armchair and said, "You're a Parselmouth. Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because Beth didn't know," said Hermione tartly. "I've been friends with her since we were four and she has never shown any sign of being able to talk to snakes, Sue."

"Wait a minute, you're saying that I can talk to snakes like Salazar Slytherin could?" demanded Beth.

Draco nodded. "We heard you, Beth. Well, we don't know what you said, but it was made of hissing sounds, like what a snake would sound."

"I was only telling the snake to leave Justin alone, Drake," said Beth.

"But the rest of us didn't know that," said Ron. "You could have been saying anything. No wonder Justin panicked, you sounded like you were egging the snake on or something. It was creepy, you know."

"I realize that Parselmouths are frowned upon, but so what? Should I have let that snake bite Justin's head off? What does it matter how I stopped the snake as long as Justin doesn't have to join the Headless Hunt?"

"But the whole school will think you're Salazar Slytherin's great-great-great granddaughter or something," protested Neville. "Well, other than us, your cousins, and the Hogwarts Prowlers."

"But I'm not!" exclaimed Beth. "My real mother was Muggleborn, and I know my real father's family doesn't descend from Slytherin. In fact, every male and most of the females born in the Potter line has always been in Gryffindor. And all the women that have married into the Potter line have all been in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Well, other than Grandmother Dorea, but she was a Black and Sirius told me that his family are not related to Slytherin. Well, a couple of the females may have married Slytherin's descendents, but they don't count, since none of their children would be Blacks."

"Grandmother Dorea?" asked Hermione, looking puzzled. "I thought your grandmother was named Emma."

"Grandmother Dorea's my real father's mother," explained Beth. "She died not long after my real parents married, so I never met her. But Sirius told me about her and Grandfather Charlus. Grandma Emma is my adoptive grandmother."

"Oh," said Hermione. "Anyway, you're going to find it hard to prove that you're not descended from Slytherin unless you produce a copy of the Potter family and show it to everyone, Beth."

Beth had a hard time sleeping that night. She couldn't understand how she could speak Parseltongue, unless Voldemort could also speak it and somehow transferred that ability to her the night he tried to kill her. She tried to say something in Parseltongue. The words wouldn't come. It seemed she had to be face to face with a snake to do it.

Beth turned over. She'd see Justin next day in Herbology and she'd explain that she'd been calling the snake off, not egging it on, which (she thought angrily, pummeling her pillow) any fool should have realized.

By next morning, however, the snow that had begun in the night had turned into a blizzard so thick that the last Herbology lesson of term was cancelled: Professor Sprout wanted to fit socks and scarves onto the Mandrakes, a tricky operation she would entrust to no one else, now that it was so important for the Mandrakes to grow quickly and revive Mrs. Norris and Colin Creevey.

Beth fretted about this next to the fire in the Gryffindor common room, while Ron and Hermione used their lesson off to play a game of wizard chess.

"For heaven's sake, Beth," said Hermione, exasperated, as one of Ron's bishops wrestled her knight off his horse and dragged him off the board. "Go and find Justin if it's so important to you."

So Beth got up and left through the portrait hole, wondering where Justin might be.

The castle was darker than it usually was in daytime, because of the thick, swirling grey snow at every window. Shivering, Beth walked past classrooms where lessons were taking place, catching snatches of what was happening within. Professor McGonagall was shouting at someone who, by the sound of it, had turned their friend into a badger.

Resisting the urge to take a look, Beth walked on, thinking that Justin might be using his free lesson to catch up on some work, and deciding to check the library first.

A group of Hufflepuffs who should have been in Herbology were indeed sitting at the back of the library, but they didn't seem to be working. Between the long lines of bookshelves, Beth could see that their heads were close together and they were having what looked like an absorbing conversation.

She couldn't see whether Justin was among them, though she saw that Susan was. She was walking towards them when something of what they were saying met her ears, and she paused to listen, hidden in the Invisibility section.

"So anyway," a stout boy was saying, "I told Justin to hide up in our dormitory. I mean to say, if Bethany Potter's marked him down as her next victim, it's best if he keeps a low profile for a while. Of course, Justin's been waiting for something like this to happen ever since he let slip to Bethany he was Muggle-born. Justin actually told her he'd been down for Eton. That's not the kind of thing you bandy about with Slytherin's heir on the loose, is it?"

"You definitely think it is Bethany Potter, then, Ernie?" said a girl with blonde pigtails anxiously.

"Hannah," said the boy solemnly, "she's a Parselmouth. Everyone knows that's the mark of a dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to snakes? They called Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue."

There was some heavy murmuring at this. "She always seemed so nice, though," said Hannah uncertainly, "and, well, she's the one who made You-Know-Who disappear. She can't be all bad, can she? Susan is friends with her, after all."

Ernie lowered his voice mysteriously, the Hufflepuffs bend closer, and Beth edged nearer so that she could catch Ernie's words.

"No one knows how she survived that attack by You-Know-Who. I mean to say, she was only a baby when it happened. She should have been blasted into smithereens. Only a really powerful Dark Witch or Wizard could have survived a curse like that."

He dropped his voice until it was barely more than a whisper, and said, "That's probably why You-Know-Who wanted to kill her in the first place. Didn't want another Dark Lord, or rather Lady, competing with him. I wonder what other powers Bethany Potter's been hiding?"

Susan stood up so fast that her chair fell over. "Ernie Macmillian, how dare you say such a thing! Beth is one of my best friends and I know she's not the Heir of Slytherin! Her real mother's family is Muggle, and as for the Potters, none of them are descended from Salazar Slytherin. In fact, all Potter males have been Sorted into Gryffindor since Hogwarts was founded!"

"How do we know that she hasn't bewitched you?" asked Ernie suspiciously.

"Oh really, you think I'm bewitched?" asked Susan acidly. "Well, I'm not! And for your information, if Beth was the Heir of Slytherin, then how do you explain her being friends with Hermione Granger? After all, Mia is Muggleborn, and she and Beth have been best friends ever since they were four years old. And may I also point out that her adoptive grandparents are Muggleborn and therefore her adoptive mother is also considered to be Muggleborn by pureblood fanatics?"

"Susan has a point," said Hannah. "I think you could be wrong, Ernie. I mean, Beth's best friend and most of her adoptive family are Muggleborn. It would be rather difficult for her to be brought up to look down on those that aren't purebloods."

"But -" began Ernie.

"Enough," said Julie, coming over from the next table. "I've known Beth ever since Aunt Natalia adopted her and she is not the Heir of Slytherin or has anything against Muggleborns in any way. When Mrs. Norris was Petrified, Beth was at the Halloween feast, so she couldn't have done it. With Colin, Beth is on friendly terms with him and couldn't have done it either. Now, Ernie, I suggest you keep your opinions on this matter to yourself, or I will speak to Professor Sprout about it and give you detention."

Ernie shut his mouth and didn't say anything further. Susan gave him a disgusted look and left the table, almost bumping into Beth. "Bethany! What are you doing here? Did you hear what was said?"

Beth nodded. "Thanks for standing up for me, Sue."

"No problem, Beth," responded Susan. "Ernie can be pretty annoying at times. And this was one of them. I had to set him straight when he kept going on about how you were the Heir of Slytherin. At least Hannah's able to see reason."

Beth sighed. "Well, could you explain to Justin everything that really happened at the dueling club?"

"Sure," said Susan. "I tried last night, but he'd already gone up to his dorm room."

She walked Beth to the Gryffindor common room and then headed for the Hufflepuff common room. Ten minutes later, the school was in an uproar due to the discovery that Nearly-Headless Nick and Justin had been Petrified. Ernie tried to pin it on Beth, but Susan snapped, "I was with Beth the whole way when she returned to the Gryffindor common room from the library, Ernie! How could she have possibly done it without my noticing?"

Ernie turned red and shut his mouth. Professor McGonagall thrust a fan she had conjured at him and told him to fan Nearly-Headless Nick to the Hospital Wing. Professors Sinstra and Sprout took Justin. The Junior Marauders skipped lunch and went to the Room of Requirement to discuss what had happened.


	23. Chapter 23

The Christmas holidays arrived and just about all the students went home. Obviously the recent events had made students worried about staying at Hogwarts for the break. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were spending Christmas visiting their son Bill in Egypt, so the rest of their children (besides Charlie) were invited to spend Christmas with the Blacks. As the house wasn't big enough to accomodate so many people, they were temporarily staying at the Black ancestral home, Number 12, Grimmauld Place in London. It had been thoroughly cleaned and all Dark objects removed, so it was now properly habitable.

Ginny and Beth shared a bedroom on the third floor and Draco and Ron shared a bedroom next to them. Fred and George had a room across the hall and Percy had the room next to them.

Beth's adoptive grandparents came by to visit and spent half an hour with Beth finding out how her school year was so far. Grandpa Adam revealed that the Chamber of Secrets had been opened during his second year and Grandma Emma's first year at Hogwarts. A student had died and the school was about to be closed, but then a Slytherin prefect named Tom Riddle had caught the culprit, or so the rumors said. In any case, Hagrid, who had been a third year Gryffindor at the time, had been expelled, but Dumbledore, who was Transfiguration teacher then, had convinced Headmaster Dippet to allow Hagrid remain at Hogwarts to be trained to be gameskeeper.

"But Hagrid's so nice!" protested Beth. "He can't have opened the Chamber of Secrets."

Grandma Harper shrugged. "He does have a fondness for big and dangerous creatures, Beth. But I do agree that it doesn't seem likely that he could have opened the Chamber. He just doesn't have the capibilities. Either Riddle made a mistake and got the wrong person, or Hagrid was framed. In any case, the attacks stopped after Hagrid was expelled."

Later, Beth told Draco and Ron what her grandparents said and agreed that Hagrid had either been framed or wrongly accused.

After dinner, the living room and Christmas tree were decorated. Ginny was given the honor of placing the angel on top of the tree. When she was done, Kate stuck out a hand towards the tree and said, "Tee!" Everyone turned to stare at her as she repeated the "Tee!" and kept pointing at the tree.

"Oh my goodness!" gasped Natalia. "Kate said her first word! She said 'tree'! Well, she said 'tee', but she meant 'tree'."

Beth looked impressed. Kate was only eight months old, but had managed to say her first word. As Natalia went off to record it in Kate's baby book, Sirius picked up Kate and said, "What a smart daughter I have. You're an early speaker, like Beth." He turned to Beth said, "You said your first word at eight months, too, Beth. It was 'Paddy'. Or something that sounded like it. In any case, you were referring to me and I was so happy. James was little disappointed though. He wanted your first word to be 'mama' or 'dada'. But you had said your first word, so he got over it very quickly and was very proud of you."

Natalia came back into the living room and took Kate in her arms. Grandma Emma smiled and then bent down to pick up Chris. She froze when he stretched his arms towards her and said distinctly, "Gwan."

"Did Chris just say his first word too?" asked Beth in shock.

Grandma Emma put her hand to her mouth, tears of joy in her eyes. "Oh, my grandson said his first word! And it was 'Gran'! He means me, his grandmother! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful." She then picked up Chris and fussed over him.

Sirius went to record it in Chris's baby book, while the others just looked at the twins and were happy with the fact that they'd said their first words.

When the Grangers, Tonkses, Harpers, and Remus came to visit the next day, Natalia and Sirius proudly announced that Chris and Kate had said their first words. "Wow," said Hermione. "They'll probably end up being really smart. I said my first word earlier than most babies, too."

Evanna was only mildly interested, for what happened to Colin was still on her mind. The adults were the ones that were very interested. The Drs. Grangers were immensely proud of their goddaughter, and Remus and Tonks were proud of their godson.

On Christmas Day, Beth woke up early. She read a book until her cousin Mike came bursting into the room at six-thirty and shouted, "Wake up! It's Christmas!" Then he ran out the room to wake up the others.

Ginny groaned as she sat up in bed. She squinted at the clock and said, "Ugh, it's too early. But then, it is Christmas."

Everyone went downstairs to the living room to open up their presents. Beth liked each of the numerous presents she got, except for the robes her grandmother got her. Grandma Emma unfortunately didn't have much a fashion sense, and liked to mix all sorts of colors together, so the robes were a bright scarlet trimmed with hot pink and yellow. Naturally, the colors clashed horribly, especially the scarlet and pink. Fortunately she'd also gotten Beth a box of stationery as well, so the robes wasn't the only present. So Beth pretended to like the robes but mentally made a note to never wear the robes.

After all the presents were opened, everyone went upstairs to get dressed and brush their teeth. Beth donned the scarlet sweater Mrs. Weasley had sent and the new dark green skirt her mother had given her.

After breakfast was church. That was followed by lunch. Before dinner, Grandma Emma asked Beth to wear her new robes. Beth turned pale, but she didn't want to hurt her grandma's feelings by telling her that she hated the robes. The only good thing was that Evanna and Julie had also been asked to wear their new robes. Dan and Mike didn't have anything to be embarrassed about, for their robes weren't bad. Dan's was a bright green trimmed with gold, and Mike's was a deep purple trimmed with silver. When it came to boys' clothing, Grandma Emma's fashion sense was slightly better.

Beth groaned as she surveyed herself in the mirror. The robes were even worse when she was wearing them. Red suited her, but not this bright shade, and the hot pink and yellow trim most definitely did not suit her. A giggle interrupted her thoughts. She turned to see that Ginny had come in.

"Yes, I know that these robes look ridiculous," snapped Beth. "There's nothing to laugh about."

"Sorry," replied Ginny, stifling a giggle. "But you do look funny in them."

Beth sighed and stalked out the room only to be confronted by Fred and George. "Those robes look charming," said George.

"And very colorful," added Fred, smirking. "You certainly will brighten up a dingy room with that bright red."

"Oh shut up!" scowled Beth. "These robes are ridiculous and I wouldn't wear them if I didn't want to hurt Grandma's feelings."

Draco came out of his room and burst out laughing. "Sorry, Beth," he choked out between laughter. "But your robes -"

"Enough," snapped Beth. "I know these robes are horrible and I look ridiculous in them." She stalked downstairs to the dining room, her only comfort in that Evanna and Julie were also wearing ridiculously colored robes. Evanna's robes were bright yellow and green stripes, and Julie's was orange with red and yellow trim.

Ron couldn't contain his laughter when he saw Beth's robes, but managed to control himself quickly. However, all throughout dinner, he smirked whenever he looked in Beth's direction. Dan and Mike looked smug about the fact that their robes were fairly decent and stifled laughter whenever they looked at the robes their sisters and cousin were wearing.

Beth purposely dropped a spoonful of pudding on her lap during dessert so she could change out of her robes. She noticed that Evanna and Julie had also spilled things on their robes. The three girls left the table after dinner to change.

On Boxing Day a party was held. Hermione, Susan, and Neville attended with their families, and a few others came as well, including Luna and Paul. The latter two sought out Ginny and Evanna and spent the entire party together.

Beth told Susan and Neville what her grandparents had told her about the last time the Chamber of Secrets had been opened. Neville had asked his grandmother, who also been a student at Hogwarts during that time, and what she said tallied.

The Junior Marauders spent an hour discussing theories as to who was opening the Chamber this time and how it was happening. The only thing they agreed on was that it was probably a Slytherin doing it. In the end, they stopped the conversation and had dinner, followed by playing games until it was time for Hermione, Neville, and Susan to leave.


	24. Chapter 24

Two days before the New Year's, Sirius and Natalia went to the Ministry and signed papers officially adopting Draco, rather than just be his guardians. The holidays ended and it was time to go back to Hogwarts. Everything was quiet for the next month, with no attacks. However, Lockhart had gotten in his head that something needed to be done to cheer everyone up and 'wash away the memories of last term'. His idea became apparent on Valentine's Day.

Beth had overslept slightly due to a late-running Quidditch practice the night before, so she dashed into the Great Hall for breakfast a few minutes late. When she entered, she stopped and wondered for a moment if she had gone into the wrong room. The walls were covered with large, lurid pink flowers. Worse still, heart-shaped confetti was falling from the pale blue ceiling.

Beth sat down at her usual table, where Ron, Draco, and Neville looked sickened or disgusted and Hermione and Susan seemed overcome with giggles. Ginny was also giggling, while Evanna still looked upset over Colin and Luna's normal dreamy expression didn't change. Paul made faces over the decorations.

"What's going on?" Beth asked them, sitting down, and wiping confetti off her bacon.

Ron pointed to the teachers' table, apparently too disgusted to speak. Lockhart, wearing lurid pink robes to match the decorations, was waving for silence. The teachers on either side of him were looking stony-faced From where she sat, Beth could see a muscle going in Professor McGonagall's cheek. Snape looked as though someone had just fed him a large beaker of Skele-Gro.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Lockhart shouted. "And may I thank the forty-five people who have so far sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all - and it doesn't end here!"

Lockhart clapped his hands and through the doors to the Entrance Hall marched a dozen surly-looking dwarfs. Not just any dwarfs, however. Lockhart had them wearing golden wings and carrying harps.

"My friendly, card-carrying cupids!" beamed Lockhart. "They will be roving around the school today delivering your Valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!"

Professor Flitwick buried his face in his hands. Snape was looking as though the first person to ask him for a Love Potion would be force-fed poison. Beth strongly wanted to hex Lockhart. She liked Valentine's Day, and had always given her relatives and Hermione cards. However, this was going too far. The decorations were too much, and so were the dwarves dressed up as cupids.

"Is Lockhart crazy?" asked Neville.

"He must be," said Beth sourly. She opened her bag and took out the platonic valentines she'd made for her friends. "Here," she said, passing them out. "It's a good thing I remembered to bring these with me to breakfast, or a dwarf would have to deliver them. And I'm sure you guys don't want that."

The others thanked her and then Hermione handed out the valentines she had made. After Beth thanked her, she got up and gave Julie and Daniel their valentines. Or rather, she tried to, but a dwarf intercepted her and insisted on delivering the valentines. Since they were for her cousins, and not a love interest, it didn't cause Dan and Julie much embarrassment.

Classes kept being interrupted with dwarves barging in to deliver valentines, to the teachers' annoyance. Late that afternoon, as the Gryffindors were walking upstairs for charms, one of them caught up with Beth.

"Oy, you! Beth Potter!" shouted a particularly grim-looking dwarf, elbowing people out of the way to get to Beth. She turned, startled, for she wasn't expecting any more valentines. The rest of her friends had given her valentines during lunch, and Julie had given her one as well, and she thought that was the end of it.

Suddenly, Draco's roommate, Terry Boot, came running over, face flushed. "Give that back!" he shouted at the dwarf. "Michael Croner only gave you it for a joke!"

Beth blinked in surprise and looked at Terry. He was a very nice boy, and she had worked with him a few times in the study group. He was also one of the few Ravenclaws that hadn't been mad at Draco the previous year over the loss of fifty points, but had been forced to ignore Draco so Michael Croner and Anthony Goldstein wouldn't turn on him too.

The dwarf ignored Terry and began reading the valentine out loud.

"_Your eyes are green as emeralds_

_Your hair is as black as midnight_

_You're sweet and kind and lovely_

_And I think you're such a delight._"

By the time the dwarf finished, Terry's face had flushed an even brighter scarlet. Beth blushed and turned to Terry. "Okay, please explain this valentine, Terry. The truth, please."

Terry's face rivaled the color of Ginny's hair as he replied, "Er, I wrote it y-yesterday because I-I think I might h-have a crush on you. I wasn't planning on s-sending it. But that dratted Michael Croner got hold of it and for a joke, decided to give it to a dwarf and have him deliver it to you."

Beth considered for a moment. She knew that she didn't have a crush on Terry, and only saw him as a nice boy that she could be platonic friends with at the moment. However, she didn't want to hurt his feelings by turning him down, and he was a sweet and kind person. She really didn't mind dating him for a bit and figure out if she could develop feelings for him. Besides, they were only twelve and first crushes normally didn't last. Eventually Terry would realize that they weren't compatible and they'd split up and agree to just be friends.

"That was a very sweet valentine," Beth said kindly. "I liked it. And I don't mind dating you for awhile, Terry, and we can figure things out."

Terry perked up and managed a smile. "Thank you, Beth. Er, can we meet before dinner and do something together?"

"Sure," said Beth. "I'll go down to the kitchens and ask the house-elves to set up a dinner for two someplace nice. We can meet at five."

"Okay," said Terry. "Um, let's meet outside the Great Hall."

Beth nodded. "See you then, Terry." Ron and Neville looked gobsmacked as Terry walked away. Beth giggled and turned to Hermione. "Can you believe that I have my first date tonight, Mia?"

Hermione shook her head and said, "This is really unexpected. But it's great. I'll help you pick out something to wear to your date after Charms."

"Does Beth even like Terry in that way?" Neville asked Ron in a whisper.

Ron shrugged. "I have no clue. But he's nice and all, so I guess Beth could like him in that way."

"Well, Terry better not hurt Beth," said Neville in an uncharacteristically fierce voice.

Ron stared at Neville in surprise. "Beth can take care of herself, Nev. She faced You-Know-Who, so I think she can deal with Terry. Come to think of it, I don't think she's serious about Terry. She'd have mentioned it if she had a crush on someone. She's probably just being nice to Terry by agreeing to date him for a while. She likes him, so it's not going to be a bore. It'd be like if I was asked to date Sue. I like her, so dating her wouldn't be bad, but nothing serious would happen. But if I was asked to date Pansy, who I don't like, it'd be a disaster."

Neville looked more cheerful after that.

When Charms ended, Beth told Susan about her date with Terry and then went up to her dorm room with Hermione. For the next half hour, the two girls went over Beth's wardrobe. In the end, it was decided that Beth would wear her ruffly white blouse with the gold sequins and a lovely skirt of pale pink with gold embroidery at the hem. Beth then let her hair fall about her shoulders in soft waves, but did put on a green and gold hair clip on the left side to keep her hair off her face. Beth then put on pale pink lip gloss, blue eyeshadow, and a hint of blush while Hermione went down to the kitchens and asked the house-elves to prepare a dinner for two to be brought up to the Room of Requirement.

At five o'clock, Beth arrived outside the Great Hall. Terry Boot was already there, dressed in a white shirt and dark blue dress pants. He looked nervous and kept fiddling around with a corsage of pale pink roses. When he saw Beth, he stammered, "Y-You look l-lovely, Beth."

Beth smiled and replied, "You look nice yourself, Terry." Terry tried to tie the corsage around her wrist, but in his nervousness, he dropped it twice. Finally he managed to tie it and then the two went for a walk around the lake for half an hour. The two talked, getting to know each other better. Terry turned out to be Muggleborn, and was surprised and delighted to find out that Beth had been brought up in the Muggle world, though she had also been exposed to the wizarding world from the time she was six.

At five-thirty, they went inside and Beth led the way to the Room of Requirement. It had been decorated tastefully by the house-elves, and a table set for two was in the middle of the room. An elf appeared right after the two had sat down and served them. "Thank you," said Beth and Terry at the same time. The house-elf smiled, bowed, and said he would be back later with their dessert.

When dinner ended, the table and chairs disappeared to be replaced by a sofa. The two sat down and continued getting to know each other better. Finally, at eight o'clock, they decided to end their date. Terry walked Beth to the Gryffindor common room. Before she went in, she kissed Terry on the cheek, surprised at her daring. He turned red, but returned the kiss and then said, "Good-night, Beth. I had a great evening with you."

"Me too. Good-night, Terry. See you tomorrow. We can plan another date later."

Beth then gave the password and let Terry help her through the entrance hole. She waved to him and he returned the wave before the portrait swung shut. Terry then turned and left for the Ravenclaw common room.

Beth told Hermione all about the date, and wrote Susan the details in her notebook. The other two girls were very interested, and Hermione squealed in delight when she heard that Beth and Terry were planning to have another date in the future. Susan asked if Beth had a crush on Terry. She wrote, "Sue, I don't. But I like him and I don't mind going on a few dates with him. We get along and he's nice and a gentleman. I'm not serious about him, and once he gets over his crush on me, he won't be serious about me either. I didn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him that I wasn't interested in him that way, so that's why I told him I wouldn't mind dating him. Besides, that was the truth."

After awhile, Beth finished her Transfiguration essay and went to bed.

Author's Note: I hope I made it clear that Beth and Terry's relationship isn't serious. They'll date for a bit, but eventually Terry will realize that he's not compatible with Beth in a boyfriend/girlfriend way. Beth will tell him that she feels the same way and they'll break up, but remain on friendly terms with each other. Beth will end up someone else permanently.


	25. Chapter 25

On Saturday, Beth and Terry had another date. This time, they didn't dress up, and spent an afternoon exploring the castle and talking for an hour in the Room of Requirement. A house-elf appeared with tea and an assortment of pastries and other snacks while they were talking. The two thanked the elf, who bowed deeply, said it was an honor to serve the Girl-Who-Lived and her boyfriend, and then disappeared with a crack. Beth blushed upon hearing the word 'boyfriend' and Terry looked at the ground, his entire face a bright scarlet.

When Beth composed herself, she said, "Well, we are dating at the moment, so I suppose you are my boyfriend, Terry."

After the second date, Terry began sitting with Beth and her friends at mealtimes. Neville didn't seem very happy with this, though he never said anything and was always civil towards Terry.

The day of the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match arrived and at breakfast, Beth heard a voice. None of her friends heard it. Out in the hall, Beth heard the voice again. This time, Hermione gasped, realizing something, and exclaimed, "I need to go to the library for a few minutes! I'll see you at the match later!"

The others exchanged looks. Susan shrugged. "Hermione must have an idea as to why you're the only one that can hear the voice, Beth, and is checking to see if she's right."

Outside the changing rooms, Terry said, "Good luck, Beth. I hope you catch the Snitch." He then kissed her on the cheek and hurried away to the stands.

The Gryffindor team was walking out to the pitch when McGonagall appeared, a megaphone in her hand. She announced the match was canceled. Ignoring Wood's protests, she called the Junior Marauders over, minus Hermione, and led them to the Hospital Wing. Her voice was kind and sympathetic as she said, "This will come as a shock to you all, but there's been another attack, a double one."

The five entered the room and turned pale as they saw that one bed was occupied by Penelope Clearwater, a Ravenclaw prefect, and another by Hermione. Both girls were Petrified.

For the first time in three years, Beth burst into tears. "Oh, Mia! Why did this have to happen?"

Ron muttered a curse under his breath and looked as if he would attack the person responsible for the attacks if said person was in front of him. Draco punched a fist against the palm of his other hand and then patted Susan on the back, who had also started crying. Neville took Hermione's hand, and in the process noticed something crumpled up in it. He glanced around to make sure McGonagall wasn't watching and then began slowly tugging the crumpled up parchment out, using his body to shield his movement. Once he got hold of the parchment, he stuck it in his pocket.

McGonagall then came over, a mirror in her hand. "This was found next to them. Do you have any idea as to why?" The five shook their heads. McGonagall sighed heavily and Professors Sprout and Flitwick came in.

"Come along, Mr. Mal- I mean Black," said Flitwick somberly. "I need to escort you to the common room and speak to the Ravenclaws."

"And I need to escort you, Miss Bones," said Sprout.

McGonagall took Beth, Ron, and Neville to the Gryffindor common room and then announced the new rules. All students would be escorted to classes by teachers. Nobody was allowed outside in the corridors after seven, except for the prefects and Head Girl and Boy on patrol with the teachers. The study group was temporarily disbanded, and no student could go to the bathroom alone.

In a corner, Neville showed Beth and Ron the parchment he'd taken from Hermione. It turned out to be a page torn from a very old library book. Beth smoothed it out and the three began reading.

_Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it._

Underneath, in Hermione's handwriting, was the word '_pipes_'.

"Guys," Beth breathed, "this is it. This is the answer. The monster in the Chamber's a Basilisk- a giant serpent! That's why I've been hearing that voice all over the place, and nobody else has heard it. It's because I understand Parseltongue..." She turned pale.

"The Basilisk kills people by looking at them. But no one's died- because no one looked at it straight in the eye. Colin, well, he was holding his camera, so I guess he must have looked at the Basilisk through it. Justin... Justin must've seen the Basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick! Nick got the full blast of it, but he couldn't die _again_... and Hermione and Penelope Clearwater were found with a mirror next to them. Hermione had just realized the monster was a Basilisk. I bet you anything she warned the first person she met to look round corners with a mirror first! And Penelope pulled out her mirror- and-"

"And Mrs. Norris?" Ron whispered eagerly.

Beth thought hard and recalled that the floor had been rather wet. "Well, I noticed as we left the Halloween feast that the floor was slippery. Mrs. Norris must have seen a reflection in a puddle of water. She was near the bathroom the ghost, Moaning Myrtle, haunts, and Myrtle is prone to flooding the bathroom when she's unhappy. If she attended Nearly-Headless Nick's Deathday party, one of the ghosts or Peeves could have said something that upset her."

Neville dug out his notebook and began writing to Susan and Draco, informing them what they'd discovered. As he wrote, Ron said, "Well, this proves Hagrid's innocent. I don't think he can speak Parseltongue, so he wouldn't be able to control a Basilisk. And that must be the gift the picture of Slytherin was referring to. I guess you'd have to be a Parselmouth to open the Chamber of Secrets, and since Hagrid isn't one, he can't be the one that opened the Chamber this time or last time."

Neville's writing disappeared and a minute later, Draco's handwriting appeared. "_So it's a Basilisk that's in the Chamber? That's not good. At least nobody's died this time. Why did Hermione write the word 'pipes'? Is that how the Basilisk is getting around, through the plumbing?"_

Neville gasped. "That makes sense!" He picked up his quill again and wrote, "_Drake, I think you're right, it is getting around through the plumbing. What do we do now?_

There was no writing for two minutes. Then Susan's handwriting appeared. (I just checked my notebook. So it's a basilisk, and getting around through the plumbing? Interesting. As for what to do, we should notify Dumbledore. And Beth should write to her parents about it.)

"_Good idea, Sue_," wrote Draco. "_Tomorrow we'll go to Dumbledore and tell him what we found out_."

_**"Okay**_," wrote Beth. "**_Talk to you guys later_**."

Neville put away his notebook and they looked up just in time to hear Lee Jordan declare that he was certain that a Slytherin was involved, since none of the Slytherins had been attacked. Alicia Bell reminded Lee that there were decent Slytherins, mainly the ones in the study group, but conceded that it seemed likely the culprit was a Slytherin. Beth got up and went to her dorm room, not in the mood to listen to any theories. Her first friend, as well as her best before she went to Hogwarts and made four more, was Petrified, and it shook her. She now understood what Evanna was going through with Colin's Petrification.

Beth flung herself on her bed and began crying again, wishing Hermione hadn't been attacked and vowing to find a way to put a stop to all this. The first time the Chamber had opened, a student had been killed. If Hermione had been - Beth immediately pushed the thought away before completing it, but she cried even harder. Eventually she cried herself to sleep and only woke up when Parvati shook her and asked her if she was feeling better. Beth shook her head and said she wasn't hungry when Lavender told her that it was time for supper. Parvati and Lavender looked sympathetic and said they'd be happy to talk to her later and help her feel better. Beth thanked them and then the two girls went downstairs for dinner. Beth drew shut the bedcurtains and burst into tears for the third time that day.


End file.
